Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has hinted at the possibility that the Pacific Alliance summit – scheduled for November 23-25 in Mexico City – may be suspended due to the absence of his Peruvian counterpart, Pedro Castillo.
The Peruvian Congress denied last Friday President Castillo’s request to leave the country to travel to Mexico for the Pacific Alliance summit, although he was authorized to travel to Chile.
«It is very likely (…) that the meeting of the Pacific Alliance countries will be cancelled, because they did not give permission for the president of Peru to attend», said López Obrador during his usual press conference, according to ‘El Universal’.
The Mexican president has opted to look for a new date to hold the meeting because Castillo is the one who should take the baton at the head of the organization and, if he is not present, the transfer of power cannot take place. «If he doesn’t come, to whom do I hand over (the baton),» he asked.
Among the proposals that López Obrador has put on the table, he has highlighted above the rest that of holding the summit in Peruvian territory to thus guarantee that Castillo will be present. «That could be an option (…) What I do not consider convenient is to hold a meeting without the president who is to receive the baton,» he said.
