Overview
- Labour Minister Flavio Cruz said the Council of Ministers did not address any clemency for Pedro Castillo and that the issue was not on the cabinet agenda or discussed in its last meeting.
- President José María Balcázar has said the two mercy petitions filed by Castillo’s defence are “in trámite” and are being evaluated by the Ministry of Justice.
- Pedro Castillo remains imprisoned at the Penal de Barbadillo after a first‑instance conviction for his 2022 attempt to dissolve Congress, and his legal team has submitted two derecho de gracia requests seeking annulment of the conviction.
- Separately, Cruz reported that Fenatep’s application for union registration is in an inadmission stage and that the Ministry of Labour is covering recent vacancies for its secretary general and two viceministers with temporary encargaturas.
- A presidential derecho de gracia is processed administratively through the Justice Ministry and any decision in this high‑profile case could trigger legal challenges and strong political reactions from lawmakers and civil groups, so the next steps to watch are the ministry’s formal report and the government’s public coordination on the matter.