Ecuador will close consular services in Mexico and will serve from third countries

Quito.- Ecuador will close its consulates in Mexico, the Foreign Ministry of the Andean country announced on Saturday, just over a month following the rupture of bilateral relations following the police raid on its diplomatic headquarters in Quito.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry reported in a statement that the Ecuadorian consulates in Mexico City and Monterrey will provide their services until May 15. Starting on the 16th, the procedures of Ecuadorians residing in that country will be handled from the offices in Guatemala, Houston and Phoenix.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry did not provide more details regarding the diplomatic personnel who will work in those offices until the middle of the month.

For William Murillo, president of the legal advisory organization 1800 migrants, based in the United States, the measure “directly affects tens of thousands of Ecuadorians who are in Mexico, many of whom are being victims of kidnapping and crime.” organized,” he said.

Murillo considered that the situation for migrants is of “very great concern” because “there is no one to defend them in Mexico” and it is not the same to request help in third countries. This “enormously benefits illegal migrant smuggling networks,” he lamented.