Peru recognizes Palestinian state

Peru joined several Latin and South American states in recognizing a Palestinian state.

“Today the government communicated to the ambassador of Palestine in Lima recognition of the Palestinian state as free and sovereign,” Peruvian Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaunde said Monday, according to reports.

Belaunde did not specify the borders of the state endorsed by Peru.

Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Chile and Guyana all have recognized a Palestinian state, some specifying that it be located within 1967 borders, in the past two months.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a visit last week to the Palestinian Authority in Jericho reiterated Russia’s recognition more than two decades ago of an independent Palestinian state, saying that “We supported and will support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with its capital in east Jerusalem.”