Mexico and Peru Restore Diplomatic Relations Following Safe Conduct for Former Prime Minister

Mexico and Peru have officially agreed to restore diplomatic relations as of Friday, August 7. The reconciliation follows the granting of a safe conduct to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chavez, who had been seeking asylum at the Mexican embassy in Lima. Chavez arrived in Mexico at 7:43 a.m. on Friday accompanied by personnel from the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs. The two countries are now working on a roadmap to reopen their respective embassies.

Diplomatic ties were severed late last year after Mexico granted asylum to Chavez. She was facing charges of conspiracy related to the December 7, 2022, attempt by then President Pedro Castillo to dissolve the Peruvian Congress. Following the asylum grant, the Peruvian Congress had voted to declare Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum a persona non grata.

President Sheinbaum stated that the restoration of ties is important regardless of the political orientation of the governments involved. She attributed the resolution to the initiative of Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori. Sheinbaum also contrasted this reconciliation with Mexico's ongoing diplomatic rift with Ecuador, which she described as a separate matter involving an affront to sovereignty due to the invasion of the Mexican embassy in Quito.

Center right sources frame the event as a strategic justification by President Sheinbaum to balance her foreign policy and uphold constitutional principles of non intervention. Center sources frame the event as a healing of a rift achieved through the release of a leftist politician.