Peru ex-ministers recount Castillo's bombshell final day

FILE PHOTO: Peru's President Pedro Castillo delivers a statement to the media along with Chile's President Gabriel Boric at the La Moneda government palace in Santiago, Chile, November 29, 2022. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado/File Photo

LIMA (Reuters) - Members of former President Pedro Castillo's Cabinet say he was planning his impeachment trial defense and appeared confident he would win - right up until his explosive speech in which he tried to illegally dissolve Congress, sparking his dramatic ouster and arrest.

The testimonies come from two ministers who were in the presidential palace when Castillo went on the airwaves just before noon local time on Dec. 7, trying to wrest control of the legislature.