The former Minister of Defense of Peru, Gustavo Bobbio, has assured that none of the members of the Ministerial Cabinet knew of the intentions of the former President of Peru, Pedro Castillo, to dissolve the Parliament and establish a Government of exception.
Bobbio, Castillo’s last appointment and who only occupied the Defense portfolio for four days, has distanced himself from the last decisions of the president, which finally led to his dismissal and arrest.
«If he had prepared it with me, in the first place I would have had to agree and without a doubt I would not have done something so clumsy», said Bobbio in declarations to the Peruvian radio station RPP, where he recognized that the ministers were «astonished» seeing the drift of the president.
Thus, the former minister emphasized that during his short term in charge of Defense he gave clear indications to the military high command to remain at all times «within the absolute governability and respect for the Constitution».
In this sense, he confirmed that, after Castillo’s decree, he called the General Commander of the Army to close the barracks in order to avoid possible confrontations or incidents with the civilian population.
Finally, the former minister has recognized that Castillo’s statement was «a total clumsiness», although he has tried to understand Castillo’s way of acting as that of «someone fed up with his family being screwed». «It was a ‘I’ve had enough’ and I expressed what he wanted,» he said.
President Castillo launched on Wednesday a speech to the nation in which he decreed the dissolution of the Parliament and the implementation of a Government of exception. That coup attempt was not supported and finally the president was dismissed by the Congress and arrested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
