Congressman and former Prime Minister Guido Bellido declared this Friday that Former President Pedro Castillo “does not remember” having read the message to the nation in which he ordered the closure of Congress and the installation of an emergency government.
The previous government’s first chief of staff even hinted that he may have been drugged to do so.following having visited him in the prison where he has been detained since Wednesday.
Consulted by the journalists, Bellido said that “the president does not remember”: “He has told me in his own words” and that He did not hesitate to describe the message read by the then president as a coup, for which he asked to know who wrote it.
“That’s the president’s response and you have to respect it. It is rare that a president, who was not going to be vacated (removed) due to lack of votes, ends up giving the arguments for his vacancy“said the independent legislator, who resigned from the bench of Peru Libre, the party that brought Castillo to the presidency in 2021.
“Castillo’s psychological state when reading the message to the nation is evidence that it was not within his powers; This leads to the presumption that he might have been induced, a toxicological test is urgent and the Public Ministry must access the security cameras of the palace, “he had previously written on Twitter.
However, the former Defense Minister Gustavo Bobbio -who had assumed the position almost 72 hours before Castillo’s message- was in the Government Palace at the time of the declaration of the dismissed president, since he had two resolutions for him to sign, and denied what was stated by Bellido.
“How might I have known anything? I see someone reading with trembling hands, who is the president and How can I know if he has been doped or not? He gave no signs of being doped. When I arrived he was sitting with his paper, who gave it to him? I don’t know,” she assured.
Congress was scheduled to receive Castillo in plenary session, on Wednesday, so that he might make his defense for the vacancy motion filed once morest him due to the allegations of alleged corruption opened once morest him and, in light of new incriminating testimonies.
However, Castillo, currently detained in the Barbadillo prison, east of Lima, went ahead of that plenary session and addressed a message to the nation announcing the dissolution of Parliament.
Bellido added that Castillo realized the seriousness of his words when his ministers began to resign.one following another.
“We need the freedom of Professor Pedro Castillo. We are going to demand that the president, released, tell his truth to the country,” the legislator told the press.
On this day, several of the ex-ministers of State went to the prosecution as witnesses in the process opened once morest Castillo for the alleged crime of rebellion, and at least two of them told journalists that they were unaware of the decision taken by the former ruler.