MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 Mexico said Saturday it regretted the decision by Peruvian President Dina Boluarte to withdraw her country鈥檚 ambassador in response to criticism from Mexican President Andr茅s Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement that Mexico 鈥渨ill keep open diplomatic channels of communication to benefit both societies, and also expresses hope that a democratic agreement can be reached soon to resolve the differences in our fellow Latin American country.鈥
In his regular morning press briefing Friday, Mexico鈥檚 president said he had seen polls 鈥渨here the spurious president (Boluarte) has 15% acceptance and 85% disapprove of her.鈥
He also said that members of Peru鈥檚 Parliament have even less approval. 鈥淭hey have 90% of the rejection and even so they rule with bayonets and with repression, force.鈥
Later Friday, Boluarte rejected L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 comments 鈥渙n the internal affairs of Peru and the unacceptable questions that he repeatedly formulates about the constitutional and democratic origin of my government.鈥
She reproached L贸pez Obrador for hurting ties in order to 鈥減rivilege ideological affinities.鈥 While the Mexican president's domestic policies and relations with the United States are not particularly leftist, he was made a point of supporting leftist regimes like Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
While L贸pez Obrador has slammed the killing of protesters in Peru, he has been criticized for saying little about the hundreds of Nicaraguans killed or exiled by the government of President Daniel Ortega.
With the ambassador鈥檚 withdrawal, diplomatic relations between Peru and Mexico 鈥渇ormally remain at the level of charge d鈥檃ffaires,鈥 the president said in a statement at the presidential palace in Lima.
Dina Boluarte took office on Dec. 7 after then-president Pedro Castillo was ousted by Parliament and jailed after trying to dissolve Congress to avoid a vote on his removal from office.
Since then, there have been almost three months of protests that have left 60 dead, 48 of them due to direct clashes with the police. One policeman was burned to death in a patrol car.
L贸pez Obrador has frequently expressed his support for Castillo.
