Colombian senator warns Peru that delegation of humanitarian activists aim to disrupt democratic process

The Peruvian government of Dina Boluarte received a letter on Thursday warning her that an Argentine delegation calling itself the "Mission of International Solidarity and Human Rights," which arrived in Lima last Tuesday may have plans to "support vandalism and destabilize democratic institutions."

This organization is "made up of professional Argentine agitators, who are currently in Peru, with the purpose of supporting vandalism and destabilizing democratic institutions," says the letter sent by Colombian Senator María Fernanda Cabal to the Peruvian president.

#Boletín Senadora @MariaFdaCabal envía carta a presidencia de Perú, advirtiendo sobre la autodenominada “Misión de Solidaridad Internacional y Derechos Humanos” pic.twitter.com/R4O9q5e68f

— Prensa María Fernanda Cabal (@CabalPrensa) February 9, 2023

The delegation of almost twenty people is headed by the Kirchnerist and founder of the left-wing socialist group Bloque Frente de Todos, Juan Grabois, and by Argentine deputies Federico Fagioli and Juan Marino, also from the Bloque Frente de Todos, the newspaper reported. Peruvian El Comercio.

Cabal recalled that she had denounced this organization in 2021, "when the group traveled to Colombia to support the violent demonstrations orchestrated by Gustavo Petro, and whose ultimate purpose was to overthrow President Iván Duque."

The senator said that some of the group's members of the missions purportedly made admissions to their real aims of agitation, and there is a history of supporting prior social outbreaks in Colombia in 2021. 

Cabal also remarked that the members of the mission "are not defenders of human rights," that they are "political leaders" associated with leftist officials tied to the Sao Paulo Forum and the Puebla Group."

"If these gentlemen were interested in defending human rights, they would be in Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua or Venezuela, where crimes against humanity are committed daily," the Colombian politician concluded.

The protests in Peru have been going on for two months, since last Dec. 7, when Dina Boluarte assumed the presidency of the country following a failed coup by former president Pedro Castillo to remain in power.

After a Christmas truce, the protests resumed on Jan. 4 with high activity in the south, near the border with Bolivia.

At the beginning of January, the Boluarte government prohibited the entry of Evo Morales and other Bolivians into Peru after they were accused of having carried out "activities of a political proselytizing nature" that negatively impacted the "national security" of the country.