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Peru's FA Min: We are ready to invoke Inter-American Democratic Charter

Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lopez. Photo: ANDINA/MRE

Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lopez. Photo: ANDINA/MRE

12:26 | Lima, Sep. 14.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lopez affirmed that the Gorvernment of Peru is ready to invoke the Inter-American Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), in response to the impeachment motion against President Martin Vizcarra, which was submitted and approved by Congress.

"We have prepared the scenarios for the application of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, whose Article 17 establishes the mechanisms that must be followed in a situation like this," he told a Latina news program on Sunday night.

Lopez explained that the Charter would allow the OAS to send a mission to Peru, "but we have not requested it yet, for the moment, we are ready."

Additionally, he noted that friendly countries such as those of the Andean Community have issued a statement in the face of a situation of political instability such as the one Peru is currently undergoing.

Said statement, he said, responds to the impossibility of implementing politics normally and to the risk that the electoral process faces.

Moreover, Lopez emphasized that this concern has been shared by the OAS and countries in other regions.

According to the Inter-American Democratic Charter, "when the government of a member state considers that its democratic political institutional process or its legitimate exercise of power is at risk, it may request assistance from the Secretary General or the Permanent Council for the strengthening and preservation of its democratic system."

(END) VVS/RMB

Published: 9/14/2020