Peru Breaks Diplomatic Relations With Mexico Over Asylum for Ex-PM Betssy Chávez

Overview

• Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela said Chávez is being granted asylum at the Mexican embassy residence in Lima and called the decision an unfriendly act.
• Peru justified the rupture by citing repeated interventions by current and former Mexican presidents in its domestic politics.
• Betssy Chávez has been on trial since March 2025 as an alleged co-author of Pedro Castillo’s failed December 2022 attempt to dissolve Congress, with prosecutors seeking a 25-year sentence.
• Pedro Castillo remains in preventive detention since 2022, faces a requested sentence of up to 34 years, and maintains he never took up arms.
• The break occurs during a public security crisis that prompted a 30-day state of emergency and follows years of strained ties and earlier ambassador withdrawals, even as trade had continued.