Peru has ordered Mexico’s ambassador to leave the Andean country within 72 hours, declaring him “persona non grata,” according its foreign ministry on Tuesday, after the family of its ousted president was granted asylum by the Mexican government.
The ministry said the decision was made after Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made comments about Peru’s political situation, “which constitute unacceptable interference in internal affairs, in clear violation to the principle of non-intervention,” a statement read.
It comes after Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said he had offered asylum to Peru’s former President Pedro Castillo’s family, who were already in the Mexican embassy in the capital Lima.
While Ebrard did not identify which members of Castillo’s family were inside the diplomatic mission, Peru’s Foreign Minister Ana Cecilia Gervasi Diaz said on Tuesday that Castillo’s family, specifically his wife and children, will be granted safe passage to leave the country.
Castillo, a former teacher and union leader from rural Peru, was impeached and removed from office nearly two weeks ago after he attempted to dissolve Congress and install an emergency government – a tactic that lawmakers slammed as an attempted coup.
He was detained while making his way to the Mexican embassy in Lima, according to prosecutors. He is currently under “preventive detention” for 18 months for alleged rebellion and conspiracy – accusations that he denies.
“There is likely to be people who fall through the cracks,” she said.
The move will free up additional funds, however, to pay for more stable health insurance coverage for children in low-income households by requiring states to keep those children on Medicaid for at least a year once they’ve enrolled. A push require states to extend Medicaid to new mothers for a 12-month period after giving birth, however, failed to make the cut. The District of Columbia and 27 states currently extend coverage for a 12-month period for postpartum mothers.
The spending package also extends the telehealth flexibilities that were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and led health care systems around the country to overhaul their approach to deliver care by smartphone or computer more frequently.
Under the proposal, the restrictions that once tightly governed telehealth care under Medicare will stay loosened through the end of 2024.
That will give Congress more time to study telehealth and how widespread fraud is in this program, said Andrew Hu of the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank, which has studied the use of telehealth during the pandemic.
“We can get some more time to assess where the benefits are with telehealth,” Hu said.
The Senate is expected to vote on the spending bill first, and Democrats are looking for support from at least 10 Republican senators to pass the measure before sending to the House for consideration.
Mexican President Lopez Obradorhas been critical about Castillo’s impeachment, saying the Peruvian was a victim of “harassment” from “his adversaries, especially the economic and political elites of that country.”
In a joint statement last week, the governments of Colombia, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia expressed concern over Castillo’s fate, claiming he had been a victim of “undemocratic harassment” since his election last year and urging Peru to honor the results of last year’s presidential vote.
Castillo’s wife, Lilia Paredes, is being investigated on suspicion of allegedly coordinating a criminal network led by Castillo. Her former attorney, Benji Espinoza, had stressed her innocence and argued the investigation against Paredes included “a number of flaws and omissions.”
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