Peruvian Congress approves bill to declare Gustavo Petro persona non grata

The Peruvian Congress is debating a motion approved by its Foreign Relations Commission to reject recent antipolice and antisemitic statements of the Colombian President Gustavo Petro.

Thirteen members of the committee voted in favor, none against, and three abstentions. The vote will now be sent to the chamber for debate and eventual approval.

The motion proposes to express its rejection of Petro's "unacceptable" expressions, considering that they constitute an "offense" to the Peruvian National Police (PNP), the Peruvian State and "all the Jewish people" by "trivializing the Holocaust."

The proposal also suggests declaring Petro persona non grata and urges the Interior and Foreign Affairs ministries to take "necessary measures" so the Colombian president "does not enter the national territory."

The motion refers to statements by Petro comparing the Peruvian authorities to Nazis.

"In Peru, (the police) march like Nazis, against their own people, breaking the American Convention on Human Rights," said the former Colombian guerrilla.

The head of the parliamentary commission on Foreign Relations assured that this type of statement "cannot be allowed from a president of a brother country."

Last January, the Peruvian government said it was in "strong protest " to any attempt by Petro to interfere in its internal political affairs, after he defended President Pedro Castillo's failed coup attempt.

Last year, the Peruvian legislature also approved a motion rejecting "the constant acts of interference in the internal affairs" of the country by Petro and his Mexican counterpart, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Likewise, the government of Dina Boluarte had shown in December its "deep displeasure" for the same statements.

Peru has already declared the Mexican ambassador in Lima, Pablo Monroy, and former Bolivian president Evo Morales personae non grata "for constant incitement in national politics" which, the legislature said was seeking to "unbalance the internal order of the country."