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OAS mission will ‘analyze’ Peru political crisis

Photo: Cris Bouroncle / AFP

| By AFP |

The Organization of American States said Thursday it will send a “high-level group” to Peru after President Pedro Castillo asked for the body’s help in tackling the country’s political crisis.

The decision came during a special OAS Permanent Council session in Washington following embattled Castillo’s announcement late Wednesday he had sought the body’s help to foster a national dialogue.

The council adopted a resolution offering “solidarity and support” for the “preservation of the democratic political institutional process” in Peru, calling on “all actors” to work within the “rule of law.” 

The OAS designated “a high-level group consisting of representatives of member states, and consistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, to visit Peru in order to analyze the situation and report to this council,” the resolution said. 

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Addressing the nation live on TV Wednesday, Castillo said he had last week asked the 35-member OAS to invoke its “democratic charter,” which sets out the body’s mission “to promote and consolidate representative democracy.”

Under the document, a member state can ask for assistance “for the strengthening and preservation of its democratic system” if it fears this to be at risk.

On Thursday, the OAS declared it was available to “provide support and cooperation” in “promoting dialogue and strengthening its democratic system of government.”

Castillo, a former rural school teacher, has been under nonstop fire since unexpectedly taking power from Peru’s traditional political elite in elections last year. 

He has survived two impeachment attempts since taking office in July 2021 and is the target of six criminal investigations for alleged graft and plagiarizing his university thesis.

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In addition to these, Peru’s attorney general last week filed a constitutional complaint accusing Castillo of heading a criminal organization involving his family and allies.

The complaint — the first of its kind against a sitting president — must be examined by parliament, and unlike a criminal case, can lead to Castillo’s suspension. Fewer votes are required than for impeachment.

‘Not corrupt’

Castillo, serving a five-year term that ends in 2026, cannot be criminally tried while in office.

In recent months, police have raided the presidential palace in Lima, where Castillo resides, as well as his private home in rural Peru in search of evidence to back the corruption claims.

On Wednesday, Castillo accused “the money sectors, the traditional politicians who have always thrived on corruption” of being behind the “coup” attempt against him.

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“I am not corrupt,” he insisted on Twitter.

Peru is no stranger to instability: It had three different presidents in five days in 2020, and five presidents and three legislatures since 2016.

But six open investigations into a sitting president is unprecedented. 

Also on Thursday, Fitch Ratings downgraded its assessment of Peru’s long-term debt outlook to “negative” from “stable” in response to the “weakening of Peru’s political governance institutions.”

“A deterioration in political stability and government effectiveness has increased downside risks to Peru’s ratings,” it said.

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International

Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.

“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.

The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.

“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”

“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.

Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.

The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.

In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.

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International

Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.

Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.

Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.

In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.

The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.

Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.

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International

Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people

At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.

“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”

The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.

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