Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Cancels Peruvian Alliance Meeting

A planned meeting later this week of the regional group, the Pacific Alliance, will not take place, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador confirmed Tuesday.

The meeting was called off as Peru’s congress did not give Peruvian President Pedro Castillo permission to leave the country, the Associated Press reported. Obrador said, "The Pacific Alliance meeting was suspended because the president of Peru was not allowed to attend."

Currently, Castillo holds the presidency of the Pacific Alliance, but he has been caught up in ongoing disputes with his country’s congress regarding corruption allegations.

Obrador said that Castillo was not allowed to attend the meeting. He added that it is possible that they could "go to hold the meeting there (in Peru) in December.”

Obrador also confirmed that Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Argentine President Alberto Fernandez are not coming to the planned meeting in Mexico City later this week. Obrador had hoped to host the Presidents of those countries, as well as leaders of Chile and Colombia. He shared that he will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Colombia and Chile -- Gustavo Petro and Gabriel Boric -- respectively. He added that Guillermo Lasso, who is the President of Ecuador, will also visit Mexico. Ecuador is in the process of joining the Pacific Alliance, which has Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile as members, according to Xinhua Net.

Obrador is currently the alliance's temporary president. Investing.com reported that the Latin American trade bloc was formed to improve regional integration. The purpose was also to move toward complete freedom in the movement of capital, goods, services and people between the four-member states.

As for Castillo, he faces five probes for alleged corruption, but he has denied all the accusations against him. He can't be formally accused by a judge as Peru’s constitution says that the President can only be accused of treason, for not allowing elections and dissolving congress without reason.

He was a rural teacher before he won the election. His Presidential campaigning was around promises to improve education, health care and other services. But his first year has seen near constant turmoil. Cabinet members changed many times and Castillo staved off two impeachment attempts.