Pedro Castillo rose on Wednesday as the constitutional president of Peru and at noon decided to become an authoritarian ruler and attempted to carry out a coupbut he ended the day being arrested for attempted rebellion against the State and sharing prison with another former coup president: Alberto Fujimori.
This December 7 was not a day like any other for Castillo: the Peruvian Congress had convened a special session to debate and vote on a motion for his vacancy (removal) for “permanent moral incapacity”.
The initiative had been presented by the opposition and if approved, it would have forced him to leave office just a week after the Organization of American States (OAS) asked the parties for a truce.
Added to Castillo’s parliamentary weakness, without a sufficient majority in a Congress controlled by the right, were the six investigations against him carried out by the Prosecutor’s Office, a record for a president with just 15 months in office.
Castillo denounced “persecution”
When on October 12 the Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office constitutionally denounced the president for corruption, Castillo gathered foreign correspondents to denounce that “the execution of a new type of coup d’état in Peru” had begun.
The president felt like a victim of “persecution”but he claimed to be willing to “give up his life” for the people.
Perhaps that is why on Wednesday he decided to turn the situation 180 degrees and at noon, dressed in a blue suit with the presidential sash crossed over it, he addressed the country through a message broadcast on national radio and television channels.
A trembling Pedro Castillo announced in a message read from the Government Palace the closure of Parliament and the formation of an emergency governmenttogether with the reorganization of the judicial system and the establishment of a curfew throughout the country.
The scene was reminiscent of another similar one that occurred 30 years ago, when then-President Alberto Fujimori announced in a message to the nation the dissolution of Congress and the taking under his control of all the powers of the State.
The military turned their backs on Castillo’s decision
But while that April 5, 1992, the tanks surrounded the main institutional buildings and the military arrested opposition leaders, on this occasion the Armed Forces and the National Police turned their backs on the president
In a joint statement issued after Castillo’s message, the military and police stressed that “any act contrary to the established constitutional order constitutes a violation of the Constitution and generates non-compliance by the Peruvian Armed Forces and National Police.” From that moment on, the fate of Pedro Castillo as president of Peru was cast.
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His unexpected, lonely and politically suicidal decision accelerated the pace of events: two hours after the failed self-coup attempt, the Congress of the Republic decided by 101 votes in favor (out of a total of 130 seats) his dismissal as head of state.
And in less than an hour, Castillo already had a replacement: his running mate, Dina Boluartewas sworn in as President of the Republic, called for a political truce and promised his support for the investigations of the Prosecutor’s Office and the fight against corruption.
Mexico offers asylum
Meanwhile, Castillo was detained by his own escort when, after leaving the Presidential Palace, he was heading towards the Mexican Embassy. The foreign minister of that country, Marcelo Ebrardhad said shortly before that they would offer him “asylum” if he requested it, but he pointed out that up to that moment Castillo had not requested it.
The Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorhad commissioned his foreign minister to keep him informed “at all times” of the evolution of the crisis in Peru.
Days ago, AMLO, a staunch supporter of Castillo, had expressed solidarity with him when in Lima Congress denied him permission to attend the Pacific Alliance summit (made up of Chile, Peru, Mexico and Colombia) that was to be held in the Mexican capital from November 24 to 26.
The opposition legislators argued that he could take advantage of this exit to flee the country and avoid the action of Justice.
In prison with Alberto Fuijimori, another former coup president
Stripped of the presidential sash and dressed in informal clothing, Pedro Castillo remained for eight hours in the Prefecture of Lima under police surveillance, while the Prosecutor’s Office carried out proceedings in the Presidential Palace, the headquarters of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and several ministries.
To the accusations that until Wednesday weighed against Castillo, the Public Ministry has now added the alleged carrying out of the “crime of rebellion, regulated in article 346 of the Penal Code, for violating the constitutional order.” Also the “alleged commission of crimes against the Powers of the State and the Constitutional Order, in the form of conspiracy.”
After his arrest in the Lima Prefecture, Castillo was taken in the middle of a large police deployment to a barracks in the Lima district of Rímac. There he was taken by helicopter to the Barbadillo prison, in the Ate district.
Castillo was taken handcuffed to that prison, located at the headquarters of the Police Special Operations Directorate, where the former president is also being held. Alberto Fuijimoriwho is serving a 25-year prison sentence for qualified homicide, usurpation of functions, corruption and espionage, diversion of funds and embezzlement.
thirty years later, the execution of a self-coup unites both former presidents.
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