It was a whirlwind day for Peru’s president, Pedro Castillo, who tried to take a page out of the lawless playbook of his communist allies in Cuba and Venezuela, but ended up in jail. In just a matter of hours, Castillo went from dissolving congress and installing himself as dictator to being arrested and impeached.
The president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, was arrested on Wednesday, three hours after he announced the dissolution of Congress, according to Peru’s National Police. In a televised address to the nation, Castillo had decreed a “government of exception” and issued an immediate nighttime curfew for the country. The president said legislative elections would be called to elect new members of Congress, who would approve a new Constitution. The message, described by his own supporters as a “coup d’état in progress,” was issued hours before Castillo was set to face his third impeachment vote.
After the televised speech, Castillo appeared before the prefecture – the body in charge of maintaining public order – to call for guarantees and was arrested. The image of Castillo reading a magazine while being held in a police station marks the end of his 18-month, chaotic mandate. Peru, however, remains in a state of political uncertainty.
Castillo, a rural elementary school teacher who was the surprise winner at the last elections, lost all support after making his announcement.
Although Castillo has repeatedly claimed he’s not a communist, he has surrounded himself and populated his cabinet with Marxist operators, including one who was trained in communist Cuba. He also enjoyed the support of socialist dictatorships in the region and is a favorite of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, a former Marxist guerrilla and narco-terrorist.
But nothing exposes his Marxist inclinations more clearly than his attempt to install himself as dictator, which, as it turned out, would be a hilarious story of stupidity and incompetence if it were not so serious.
When he saw the game was up, he headed for the Mexican embassy, as Mexico was prepared to give him asylum (surprise!), but the Peruvian police acted quickly and he wound up in Lima’s main police station. Needless to say, he was always in way over his head, and Peru clearly needed to end his presidency. I am happy for Peru and admire those who did what had to be done to get rid of such a clown.
As for Mexico, what can one say? It is obviously NOT after Peru’s best interests, just as it isn’t and never has been after Cuba’s. Yes, that applies to other countries in the region, far too many, but like Mexicans themselves keep saying, “Como México no hay dos.” Of course, that doesn’t mean what they think it means.
“Although Castillo has repeatedly claimed he’s not a communist…” Gee, that sounds familiar. Very.
The irony is that, if he’d done nothing and had just let the impeachment vote proceed normally, there may well not have been enough votes to impeach him, but he wound up forcing people’s hands by going too far. It’s not just that he’s not bright; he’s far too stupid to play at this level. He impeached himself.