:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/EFR5GYBRYFE4JPYCHSINRJXSX4.png "Congress approves Tina Polwart’s fifth international trip in four months: What will be her agenda at APEC? | Joe Biden | USA | Foreign Relations | principle")
He Congress of the Republic– Thanks to the votes of Fuerza Popular, APP, Avanza País, Renovación Popular and Somos Perú – the request of the Executive for the President was approved. In Boluarte It will be its fifth international tour in the last four months.
Boluarte Zegarra will participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in San Francisco, USA, between November 14 and 18. Precisely, he will take over the role of interim head of the organization from North American President Joe Biden.
New Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea attended the full session of Parliament this Thursday, as a result of a frustrating bilateral meeting between the Peruvian president and his American representative last Friday in Washington, where the APEP summit was held. To return to this controversy which caused the departure of his predecessor, Ana Cecilia Gervasi.
Gonzalez-Olechia said she spoke with the U.S. State Department’s undersecretary of state, who confirmed that replacing the interim chairman of the APEC forum is on Biden’s agenda.
“I believe it has been given in writing that the transition of the pro-presidential position from President Joe Biden to President Tina Polwart has been confirmed on the official agenda of the President of the United States,” he said.
The foreign minister said he gave the letter to Congress President Alejandro Soto, who visited him at Torre Tagle Palace early Thursday.
The new president, Pollarde Zegara, has promised to provide detailed reports to parliament on every foreign trip he undertakes from now on.
However, during his address to the chamber, he made no self-criticism on behalf of the administration for the impasse caused by Congress over its failure to hold a bilateral meeting with Biden, who was reportedly seeking permission to travel to Washington. Pass this week. He also did not justify why the President travels to the APEC forum a day before and returns a day later.
Critical discussion
During a debate in Congress, Congresswoman Janet Rivas (Perú Libre) described top government officials as “disgraceful” and demanded that they leave the country again when previous trips had yielded “small benefits” for national interests.
“On his last request [el Ejecutivo] He surprised the national delegation by saying he was going to meet the President of the United States, and we all saw that he was only allowed a formal walk,” he said.
Rivas questioned that the head of state wants to go to a meeting of leaders when he “doesn’t have the capacity to lead the fight against corruption and crime” in the country.
In this regard, Margot Palacios, a spokesperson for the Pencil Group, pointed out that “Polwart’s travels have not yielded positive results for the people.” “There is no contract or significant investment brought to Peru,” he noted on his X account (on Twitter).
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In turn, Congressman José Luna Gálvez (Podemos Peru) noted that each country’s foreign ministers and technical experts have more participation and importance in the APEC forum and not their presidents. He said the country was going through a “great recession” and citizens were now being abandoned by the onslaught of crime.
“That’s our reality, it’s not seen [desde Palacio de Gobierno]”, he revealed.
Luna Galvez warned that if the administration does not take concrete steps to reactivate the economy, “we will be worse off next year.”
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Guido Bellito, a member of parliament from Peru Bicentenario, opined that top government officials “must have some blood on their faces.”
The former prime minister proposed a “caution” and “a sanction” to the President for not taking into account his previous four visits. Congress should have moral sense, he said.
For his part, Congressman Carlos Anderson (not in the group) ironically noted that if President Polwarte “believes more in the benefits of virtual communication,” he sends it remotely when he leaves the country, “teleconference in San Francisco to participate in an APEC 2023 forum” or “appear on a giant screen” .
From the Alliance for Progress (APP), its spokesman, Eduardo Saljuana, said he hoped the president would acknowledge the “mistakes” the head of state had made in “previous visits”. “He should have promised to correct them and act professionally. For example, I expect the President to travel only on days that are absolutely necessary,” he stressed.
Despite these questions, Zaljuana and other members of his party voted in favor of allowing Poluarte to travel.
The plenary session of Congress voted 62 in favor of the president’s fifth trip, 47 against, and five abstentions.
Vote on President Polwart’s Consent Request
| Bench | Pros | vs | In neglect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popular Force | 19 | ||
| Free Peru | 11 | ||
| Processor | 7 | 1 | |
| Democratic transition | 9 | ||
| We can grow | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Magisterial Vol | 5 | 1 | |
| Developments of the country | 8 | ||
| Popular update | 7 | 2 | |
| A popular act | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| We are Peru | 4 | ||
| Peru Bicentennial | 2 | 3 | |
| Unity and dialogue | 5 | ||
| Not grouped | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| Total | 62 | 47 | 5 |
What is surprising is that members of parliament from Fuerza Popular and Avanza País did not participate in the debate.
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Presidential Agenda in San Francisco
Of the five days of Boluarte’s US trip, only three days he carried out a detailed agenda.
On November 14, the document sent to Congress establishes only that the President is leaving Lima for San Francisco.
A day later, on November 15, the head of state has four activities. The first event was the “Country Promotion and Investment Attraction Session within the Framework of the APEC Leaders’ Week 2023” organized by the APEC Business Advisory Group (ABAC Peru). [Ver imagen].
Polwarte’s participation in the eighth session of the APEC Business Summit is also being considered.
On November 16, five events are planned, including the President’s address at the closing session of the APEC Business Summit and a welcome dinner for the forum’s leaders.
On November 17, Boluarte will have two activities, the first is the “300th Meeting of APEC Economic Leaders” and a video recording about the importance of the forum.
He will return to Lima on November 18.
