Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Belaunde said on Tuesday that his country is not intending to blame Chilean President Michelle Bachelet over the spying case involving a Peruvian subofficer of the Air Force.
"It is not an accusation against Chile, it is not an accusation against the president of Chile, the cabinet, or the ministers, it is an accusation
against those who still continue to perpetrate these criminal acts," Belaunde told local radio station Radio Programs del Peru (RPP).
On Monday, Peruvian President Alan Garcia said this was "a spying case (done) by people from Chile in collaboration with a Peruvian agent."
"We have proved the transmission of e-mails from an IP belonging to a computer of agent (Victor) Ariza to an IP in Santiago of Chile," Garcia said.
Garcia referred to the Peruvian subofficer who is being investigated for selling confidential information of Peru, including the National
Strategic Plan, to Chilean militaries.
"I want to express my strong rejection to this offense that has been done against the Peruvian sovereignty. I think these are repulsive acts that do not correspond to a democratic country and put Chile in a very bad place
in the world," Garcia added.
Garcia said that there may exist some sectors, not from the government and not from the Chilean people, which still "keep dictatorship behaviors in Chile's ties with its neighbors."
After meeting with Bachelet at the 17th Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation last week in Singapore, Garcia said that "at any moment we have not said the Chilean president is directly responsible or author of this (spying case), and perhaps not even her own ministers."
However, "We have the full right to demand explanations from the Chilean side for this act that undermines Peru's sovereignty," Garcia said.
Regarding this, Belaunde said on Tuesday that the Peruvian government considers the offense as "an act of betrayal against the homeland (performed by the spy) and an hostile act done by Chile."
"I think President Garcia has expressed the position of the government on this act of betrayal against the country, which according to the
international law is a hostile and unfriendly act," Belaunde told the RPP.
"The president of Peru has said his country will give to the Chilean government all the documents related to the case," Belaunde added.
Meanwhile, Peru's President of the Ministers Council Javier Velasquez said on Tuesday morning that six other Peruvian citizens are also involved
in the spying case.
Velasquez said "what is clear is" that Ariza has sent e-mails to Chile, (and) that he has received money from Santiago, proved by his confession and his itinerary of trips from Chile to Argentina since 2005.
Meanwhile, Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernandez said on Tuesday that "we have given our opinion and we will continue to do so when it is
necessary. Let (Peru) produce the information they consider necessary."
Fernandez said that the Chilean institutions "neither spy nor do any illegal activity. We do not accept any country or person to impute us to
things like those."
Chile and Peru have a complex diplomatic history since the end of the 19th century, due to a war which ended with Chile's triumph and the
annexation of several square kilometers of Peru's and Bolivia's coasts.
In 2008, Peru presented a demand to the International Court to review its maritime limits with Chile, but it was rejected by the latter which insisted those limits had been established in agreements.