Peru bars Mexico’s Sheinbaum after asylum row over ex–prime minister

Peru’s Congress has declared Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum “persona non grata,” days after cutting diplomatic ties with Mexico over a growing asylum dispute.

Lawmakers voted 63 to 34 on Thursday to symbolically ban Sheinbaum from entering the country after her government granted asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chavez, who fled to the Mexican embassy in Lima.

Congress President Fernando Rospigliosi said the vote was meant to “support the government” and its decision to sever relations. During the debate, MP Ernesto Bustamante accused Sheinbaum of “being in cahoots with drug traffickers” and meddling in Peruvian affairs, a claim Mexico has not commented on.

Peru’s foreign minister, Hugo de Zela, slammed Mexico’s asylum decision as an “unfriendly act” and “interference in internal affairs.” Mexico’s Foreign Ministry rejected that characterisation, saying it acted “in full accordance with international law.”

Lima has yet to grant Chavez safe passage to leave the embassy. The former minister, who briefly served under President Pedro Castillo, faces up to 25 years in prison over her alleged role in Castillo’s failed 2022 attempt to dissolve Congress. She denies any wrongdoing.