20221207 peru
File: Peruvian President Pedro Castillo delivering a message to the nation in Lima. Image Credit: AFP

Mexico City: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday doubled down on his offer of asylum for ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo and his family, and backed calls for the South American nation to move forward its general elections.

Lopez Obrador had previously said he considered Castillo, who was removed from office and arrested earlier this month after trying to illegally dissolve Congress, the rightful president of Peru.

On Sunday evening, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, the former vice president who was sworn in after Castillo's ouster, said in media interviews she had been told by the Peruvian foreign minister that the asylum request for Castillo's family had been approved.

Former Vice President Dina Boluarte
Former Vice President Dina Boluarte receives the presidential sash as she is sworn-in as the new president at Congress in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Peru's Congress voted to remove President Pedro Castillo from office Wednesday and replace him with the vice president, shortly after Castillo tried to dissolve the legislature ahead of a scheduled vote to remove him. At left is Congress President Jose Williams and at right is Jose Cevasco. Image Credit: AP

Lopez Obrador said on Monday that the asylum requests were still in progress. "A request was made but it is a process that needs to be carried out," he said.

"We have the door open for the president of Peru and his family for all of those ... who feel persecuted," he added.

Lopez Obrador also backed a call for Peru to move up general elections.

Peru's Boluarte last week sent a constitutional reform to Congress that would have brought presidential elections forward to December 2023, but lawmakers rejected it. She has urged Congress to reconsider.