Peru’s new president fell short of reaffirming that the Andean nation would ban Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from attending a regional summit it is hosting next month, saying on Tuesday that he would leave the matter to top diplomats.
Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra, who had been vice president, abruptly got the top job last week after Pedro Pablo Kuczynski resigned amid growing graft allegations.
A former Wall Street banker who once held US citizenship, Kuczynski had been one of Maduro’s most outspoken critics, deeming him a “dictator” and barring him from the Summit of the Americas that Peru is hosting on April 13 and April 14.
Maduro vowed to attend the summit anyway and his loyalists exulted over Kuczynski’s downfall with a fireworks display last week, but Vizcarra declined to weigh in on the dispute as he focuses on building support across Peru by promising to refocus the government’s attention on domestic problems that had been neglected while Kuczynski struggled to remain in power.
After returning from a coastal region still reeling from severe floods last year, Vizcarra was asked at a news conference what he thought about Maduro being banned from the summit.
“Our foreign policy is so delicate we must leave it in the hands of specialists,” Vizcarra told journalists at the presidential palace. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking the corresponding decisions that we’ll support.”
The comment appeared to signal a more hands-off approach to foreign policy.
A spokesman in the ministry said its position on barring Maduro was unchanged, but noted that Vizcarra had not yet sat down to talk with top diplomatic officials.
Vizcarra promised a “completely new” Cabinet upon taking office on Friday last week, but has yet to name his minister of foreign affairs or other appointments.
He said he would unveil his Cabinet on Monday next week.
Vizcarra said there would no changes to the agenda of the Summit of the Americas, which is to celebrate “democratic governance against corruption” in a host nation where three out of four former presidents are subjects in graft probes.
US President Donald Trump and other leaders in the Americas plan to attend the summit.
Vizcarra said that various heads of state, starting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, had called him after he took office to reconfirm their attendance.
“We think the event in Peru is going to be a success,” Vizcarra said.
The former governor of a small mining region, Vizcarra served as the Peruvian ambassador to Canada, as well as vice president, before he was called home to replace Kuczynski.
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