Peruvian Congressmen Point Up Importance of ‘Solid’ Relations with Morocco

A delegation made up of members of the ‘Support Group for the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative’ recently set up within the Peruvian Congress, stressed on Monday in Rabat “the importance (for their country) of maintaining active and solid relations with Morocco.” In statements to the press following a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Nasser Bourita, the delegation called on Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to correct the “erroneous decisions” adopted previously, and take relations with Morocco “to their maximum level.” Carlos Ernesto Bustamante Donayre, who led the Peruvian delegation, recalled the recent creation within the Peruvian Congress of the Support Group for the Moroccan Autonomy Initiative, which is preparing a report on the autonomy plan for the Moroccan Sahara. Bustamente Donayre emphasized that the visit by members of the Group aims to assess the impact of the autonomy plan in terms of local development, human rights, education and health, with a view to drawing up the report, which will be submitted to the Peruvian government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He added that the aim is to raise awareness among Peruvian authorities of the importance of relations with Morocco, in order to transcend “the consequences of erroneous decisions” taken by the government of former president Pedro Castillo. “With this document, we hope that the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs can have the political arguments to take relations between Peru and Morocco to their highest level”, he stressed. For her part, Maria del Carmen Alva Prieto, President of the Foreign Affairs Commission in the Peruvian Congress, reported that the delegation had discussed with Bourita the current situation in Peru, particularly following the recent upheavals in the country. One of the aims of the visit was to ask the Moroccan government to explain the reality of the situation in Peru to African and Arab countries, “a gesture of great importance to us”, she added. The Peruvian parliamentary delegation, made up of members of the Peru-Morocco parliamentary friendship group, will hold talks with several senior Moroccan officials during their visit to the Kingdom.