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The speech that Pedro Castillo never made

2022-12-08T21:58:05.368Z


EL PAÍS has exclusive access to the text that the president of Peru was going to read in Congress, before the coup attempt, to defend himself against the motion of censure


He was to go up to the lectern at three o'clock in the afternoon and deliver a speech that his group of advisers had prepared the day before.

It was Pedro Castillo's way of defending himself on Wednesday from what he considered a form of harassment from Congress, which since he became president of Peru had put up all kinds of obstacles.

"I confirm that we are a democratic government, respectful of the Constitutional State of law, the institutional framework and the balance of powers," Castillo was going to express before the congressmen.

The text had been written by several of his collaborators.

Luis Felipe Mendieta, chief of staff of the presidential office, gave it the last review and sent it to the president.

However, a few hours before, setting aside the tone of this address, he announced that he was dissolving Congress and ruling by decree.

A self-coup that took Peruvians back to 1992, when Alberto Fujimori did the same.

Only that the move went well for the president of Japanese origin and he remained in power for the next decade, shaping an autocracy.

Castillo, without the support of the military, failed in an attempt that the most benevolent consider reckless.

If he had not done so, he would have spoken a few words of conciliation and apologies with a few doses of self-exculpation that surely would have kept him in power — analysts estimate that the opposition did not have enough support to remove him.

Instead, he himself is now in prison for rebellion.

This is the full speech to which EL PAÍS has had access, transcribed as Castillo was going to read:

PRESIDENT OF THE CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS OF THE 13 NON-GROUPED PARLIAMENTARY AND CONGRESSMAN GROUPS

DEAR COMPATRIOTS VERY GOOD AFTERNOON

Today, exactly one year after my first presentation for a similar request, I go, once again before the national representation, to exercise my right of material defense before an alleged third vacancy motion, since as is known, two previous ones have been tried. , which were unsuccessful for lacking reason and foundation.

I was elected by the will of the Peruvian people in a democratic electoral process for a period of 05 years, as were you, congressmen, and that democratic expression must be respected in a State that prides itself on being Constitutional by Law, Democratic and in the that, the balance of powers, is the reason for being, between the Legislative power and the Executive power.

From this parliamentary hall, before you and the country, I affirm and ratify my innocence in the face of all the unfounded accusations that have been leveled against me up to now, that the only thing they have sought is to discredit my condition as constitutional president, and with This will circumvent the will and the decision of the popular vote.

Recently, I was the subject of a constitutional accusation for the alleged crime of treason, and despite the lack of grounds, said claim was continued, knowing that it was unconstitutional and flagrantly violated my fundamental rights.

Well, despite my innocence, they tried to point me out as guilty.

Such a situation led the Constitutional Court to issue a judgment, which has the authority of res judicata, declaring the Habeas Corpus claim in my favor FOUNDED and, declaring the qualification report and the final report issued by the sub-committee for constitutional accusations NULL.

In the relevant foundations of said sentence issued by the highest interpreter of the Constitution, it has been specified with crystal clarity, that in our political regime the President of the Republic is assisted by certain prerogatives and immunities, precisely because he is the head of State.

In this sense, as long as the possible decision of the Congress of the Republic may have a greater impact on the scheme of division and balance of powers and on our political regime;

the greater will be the need for the intervention of constitutional justice.

In this context, the requirement of the imputation of facts both in a preliminary trial or impeachment trial, whether for the reasons of Article 117 of the Constitution or for constitutional infraction, requires the duty to provide society with a detailed justification of the infractions or crimes that attributed to the president.

Therefore, there is a constitutional obligation to carry out a subsequent control of the parliamentary actions (You can see the 31st foundation of the sentence).

This implies, adds the Constitutional Court, that the facts that make up the constitutional infraction, the classification of the infraction and the sanction to be imposed, must be duly substantiated and motivated.

Therefore, concluding that a constitutional violation has been committed, no matter how political the nature of the body that has the competence to arrive at such a conclusion, is an activity that cannot be at odds with elementary criteria of reasonableness and proportionality (You can see the rationale 48º).

Thus, a vacancy motion, which undoubtedly contains an implicit sanction such as removing the president from the constitutional exercise of the position entrusted to him by the Peruvian people, cannot be instrumentalized with vague, recurring arguments and without rational objective corroboration.

In this third vacancy motion, without prejudice to noting that once again facts that have been archived are used, both in the first and in the second motion, today they are merged into a generic, diffuse and devoid of substantiation story. , such as arguing the takeover of the state apparatus, investigations for alleged corruption and the alleged plagiarism of my thesis.

The principle of presumption of innocence does not exist in our country, just as there is not in this third vacancy motion in just 1 year 5 months of government.

The sector that intends to vacate me today, before I took office, showed its rejection of me.

Today, I also forcefully ask and demand that those who had my confidence and who are now sought by justice to clarify the facts that are imputed to them, turn themselves in and stop harming the government and the country.

That the judicial institutions carry in them an impartial process and, if they are found guilty, they pay for their crimes.

Members of Congress, with facts that are the subject of a preliminary investigation by the Public Ministry, it is intended to vacate the president for the cause of permanent moral incapacity.

For this reason, I must affirm that today democracy is intended to be broken by the statements of those who have allegedly committed a crime and are given revenue to point me out and cover up their irregularities, taking advantage of the proceedings in an investigation.

The vacancy motion is flimsy and incongruous, it is enough to review its page 1, fourth paragraph, when it states that: “OUTSIDE THE CAUSES MENTIONED (REFERRING TO THOSE PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 117º OF THE CONSTITUTION), IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SUBMIT THE PRESIDENT TO A POLITICAL TRIAL OR PREJUDICE, DURING HIS TERM.

THAT IS, EVEN WHEN THE PRESIDENT HAS INCURRED IN SERIOUS ACTS THAT CALL IN QUESTION HIS LEGITIMACY IN THE EXERCISE OF OFFICE OR THAT AFFECT THE LIFE OR INTEGRITY OF PERSONS, AS WELL AS RELEVANT LEGAL ASSET, HE CANNOT BE REMOVED BY THE IMPEACHMENT PROCEDURE REGULATED IN ARTICLES 99º AND 100º OF THE CONSTITUTION”.

Between yesterday and today we see several of the investigated and aspiring effective collaborators appearing in the media who contradict each other, stating that they have no proof of what they said because "they were lost" or "they were told."

However, all the same, no coherent evidence has been found that could affect me as a person.

As you can see, these are just unsubstantiated statements.

I was chosen to serve my country, to meet the social demands of Peruvians who have been neglected for many years.

I confirm that we are a democratic government, respectful of the Constitutional State of law, the institutional framework and the balance of powers, I HAVE NOT PARTICIPATED IN ACTS OF CORRUPTION as I will demonstrate in due course and before the competent bodies.

If officials have participated in my government who, betraying my trust, have committed acts of corruption, it will be the Peruvian justice system that will determine their responsibility through due process.

As I have stated once again, I apologize to the country if I made a mistake with some designations, but this should not involve the government as a whole.

As it never involved previous governments nor allowed democracy to be undermined, demanding a presidential vacancy.

I put a single example, the remembered case of the so-called Petroaudios.

In that case, justice acted on those involved, but not against the president, as the then national prosecutor and current congresswoman of the republic, Gladys Echaíz, will remember.

I must tell the country, the 9 million poor Peruvians, 55% of women affected by family violence, those, just over 40% of children still with anemia, 12% of children still with chronic malnutrition, the 8 and a half million young Peruvians, the 2 million 200 thousand compatriots of family farming, our working class, the outsourced workers still in precarious conditions of labor rights, our peasant communities and patrols, fishermen, our teachers and professionals in general, the entrepreneurs of our country, drivers, motorcycle taxi drivers, our fellow inhabitants of the human settlements throughout the country who still do not have a property title, all the street vendors and all citizens of all bloodlines who believed in this government and trusted me,that my commitment remains firm and I am standing up against all these adversities that today make me appear before the Congress of the Republic to defend what you chose at the polls.

I call on the congressmen to act calmly and prudently, to seek spaces for dialogue and consensus, in response to the recommendations of the high-level mission of the OAS.

I call you now, because it is time to avoid further confrontations and tensions that truncate and postpone the main objective of all political actors: to serve and meet social demands and respect the popular will.

It is up to us not to repeat the fateful chapter of November 2020 that, due to the ambitions of a few, the lives of two brave young people who sought respect for the voice of the people who continue to demand unity in their authorities were blinded.

Let's think about the country, our people and their stability.

Peru and Peruvians cannot stop.

Finally, with regard to my technical defense, this will be in charge of my duly accredited lawyers.

Thank you very much.

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Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-12-08

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