Peru's Congress approved a motion declaring Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum persona non grata in response to the political asylum granted to former Prime Minister Betssy Chávez. Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs rejected the decision, calling it excessive and based on false claims. This action escalates diplomatic tensions between the two countries, which began during the previous administration.
On Thursday, November 6, 2025, Peru's Congress approved motion 19057 declaring Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum persona non grata, with 60 votes in favor, 33 against, and 2 abstentions. The initiative, led by congressmen including Ernesto Bustamante and Fernando Rospigliosi, acting first vice president of Congress, accuses Mexico of interfering in internal affairs due to the political asylum granted to Betssy Chávez, former prime minister involved in Pedro Castillo's attempted coup in December 2022.
Rospigliosi stated that Sheinbaum's statements 'discredit the Peruvian nation' and offend the democratic system. The motion references Sheinbaum's criticisms of Peruvian leaders following Castillo, who remains imprisoned in Barbadillo prison.
In response, Mexico's Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (SRE) issued a statement rejecting the declaration as 'motivated by false claims.' The SRE stressed that Mexico has not interfered in Peru's internal affairs and that the asylum for Chávez was granted in strict adherence to international law, binding on both countries. It noted that the UN General Assembly views political asylum as a humanitarian and peaceful act, not hostile.
This dispute builds on prior tensions: Peru broke diplomatic relations with Mexico on November 3, 2025, after the asylum to Chávez. Previously, in 2022 and 2023, Peru declared Mexican ambassador Pablo Monroy and former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador persona non grata. Chávez remains in Mexico's Embassy in Lima, awaiting a safe-conduct pass that Peru is evaluating.
The 1961 Vienna Convention regulates persona non grata mainly for diplomats, so this declaration carries symbolic and diplomatic implications for heads of state. Mexico maintains that commercial and consular relations are unaffected.
