Sheinbaum keeps Peru ties on hold
Key Takeaways
- Sheinbaum ruled out immediate talks.
- Mexico blamed Peru for the rupture.
- Castillo dispute continued to divide both countries.
Mexico's president said she had not spoken with Peru's president-elect and maintained that Lima was responsible for breaking diplomatic relations.
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum has said there has been no communication with Peru's president-elect, Keiko Fujimori, leaving the future of diplomatic relations between the two countries uncertain.
Speaking during her morning press conference in Mexico City on Wednesday, Sheinbaum said Mexico would wait before taking any steps to restore ties, insisting Peru was responsible for severing relations.
"I have not had any communication [with Keiko Fujimori]. Well, we are going to wait. Remember that they broke relations with us. Unlike the case of Ecuador, [where] we broke relations because they invaded our embassy," she said.
Her remarks came after Fujimori, who was declared president-elect on Friday, said last month that she wanted to rebuild relations with Mexico, arguing that the two countries shared longstanding ties that should outweigh political differences.
Sheinbaum said Peru's decision followed Mexico's position on former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office and detained after attempting to dissolve Congress in December 2022.
The Mexican president defended her government's stance, maintaining that Castillo remains "illegally imprisoned."
"It is not that there was a political affinity. No. [Our position] has evidence. The number of votes needed for that was not reached in Peru's Congress. It is as simple as that. That is our position. But because of that position we took, which is also declarative and at no time represented anything more, they decided to break relations with us," she asserted.
Sheinbaum also confirmed that one person remains at Mexico's embassy in Lima under Brazil's protection after Brazil assumed responsibility for Mexico's diplomatic representation following the breakdown in relations.
Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico in November 2025 after the Mexican government granted political asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is facing prosecution over her alleged role in the attempted coup attributed to Castillo.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
