Betssy Chávez is at the center of tensions between Peru and Mexico. The Peruvian government announced on Monday that it was severing diplomatic relations with Mexico over the country’s decision to grant asylum to Chávez, who is under investigation for her alleged involvement in the supposed 2022 coup attempt.
A former Prime Minister during Pedro Castillo’s administration, Chávez is being investigated in Peru for the alleged crimes of rebellion and conspiracy against the state, following former President Castillo’s attempt to unconstitutionally dissolve Congress on December 7, 2022.
The former official has denied her involvement in the alleged coup attempt.
From Congresswoman to Prime Minister
Betssy Chávez was born in 1989 in the Tacna region of southern Peru, near the border with Chile. She is a lawyer and was elected to Congress in 2021 for the Peru Libre party, the same party that brought Castillo to the presidency.
That same year, Chávez joined the Cabinet of the then-government: first as Minister of Labor and then as Minister of Culture, before finally becoming President of the Council of Ministers. A close associate of Castillo, Chávez held the position for only two weeks before the alleged coup d’état.
The then-official accompanied Pedro Castillo during his address to the nation in which he announced the dissolution of the Peruvian Parliament. For this reason, the Peruvian Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Chávez and other former officials of Castillo’s government for their possible involvement in the former president’s attempt to unconstitutionally dissolve Congress, accusations she denies.
On June 20, 2023, Chávez was arrested after Judge César San Martín ordered 18 months of pretrial detention and her “immediate capture.” Since March 4 of this year, she had been appearing three times a week at court hearings, where she maintained her innocence. She was released in September to continue her defense while free, according to Reuters.
Raúl Noblecilla, one of her defense attorneys, told local radio station RPP on Monday that he had not known Chávez’s whereabouts for several days.
Later, along with two other lawyers on her defense team, she published a statement in X, claiming that Chávez has been the target of “political persecution” in Peru.
Regarding Mexico’s decision to grant asylum to the former Prime Minister, the defense stated that it “fully complies with International Law” and that Mexico “has acted in accordance with the principles of human rights protection and current international treaties.”
The lawyers added that they would not be making any further statements, as this is a matter that “should be handled directly” between the governments of Mexico and Peru. CNN is attempting to contact Chávez’s defense team.
The tension in relations between the two countries dates back years, to when the government of then-President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, supported Pedro Castillo, which led the Peruvian Congress to declare the then-president persona non grata in May 2013. In recent hours, the situation deepened when Peru announced it was severing diplomatic relations with the government of Claudia Sheinbaum.
Peru’s Foreign Minister, Hugo de Zela, justified the decision by stating that Mexico had disseminated “a biased and ideologically driven version” of Castillo’s alleged 2022 coup attempt and had tried to portray those involved as victims of political persecution.
The Mexican government considers this a “unilateral, excessive, and disproportionate” decision in response to a legitimate act in accordance with international law, and maintains that Mexico’s actions do not interfere in Peru’s internal affairs.
Source: cnnespanol
