QUITO (AP) — Mexico broke diplomatic relations with Ecuador following police stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president who had requested political asylum there following being accused of corruption, at a time of growing tension between the two countries.
After the agents forcibly entered the diplomatic legation to arrest Jorge Glaswho had resided there since December, the Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador He said in his account on the social network X that, given the “flagrant violation of international law and sovereignty” of his country, ordered the Foreign Ministry “to immediately declare the suspension of diplomatic relations with the government of Ecuador”. Furthermore, he described the arrest as an “authoritarian act.”
An armored vehicle left on Saturday from the flagrante delicto unit of the Prosecutor’s Office in the north center of Quito, in the middle of a large military and police reserve, where, according to Ecuadorian media, the former Ecuadorian vice president was presumed to have been transferred. People who were outside shouted “force” as the caravan left.
Despite AP’s calls to government institutions, it has not been possible to obtain an official version of where he was transferred.
He former president Rafael Correa, of whom Glas was vice president, wrote a message on the social network which he claims is Glas. According to the former president, he is transferred to Guayaquil.
The assemblywoman for Citizen Revolution political movement to which Glas belongs, Jahaira Urresta, and who along with other legislators went to the prosecutor’s office, assured the media that The prosecution has not explained the legal situation of the former vice president and demanded that “due process” be followed in the case.
What is Jorge Glas accused of?
Glas, who was possibly the most wanted person in Ecuador, was convicted in 2017 in two proceedings — one for bribery and another related to the Odebrecht plot — but was released from prison in November 2022 following judicial appeals. Ecuadorian authorities continue to investigate alleged irregularities during his management of the 2016 earthquake reconstruction efforts.
The police, who arrived at the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in black vehicles, broke the exterior doors of the facility located in the north of the Ecuadorian capital and entered the patios to arrest Glas.
Los presidents of Colombia and Honduras They reacted on Saturday to the police raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito.
“The Vienna convention and the sovereignty of Mexico in Ecuador have been broken,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Saturday on his X account, formerly Twitter, where he insisted that “whatever the social and political constructions in each country, they must keep alive the precepts of international law.”
Petro said he respected the universal right to political asylum and expressed solidarity with Mexico’s diplomatic personnel.
The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castrorepudiated on the same network what he considered “an act intolerable for the international community” and a “violation of the sovereignty of the Mexican State and international law,” in reference to the police raid on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador, because “ “It ignores the historic and fundamental right to asylum,” he said.
Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular section in Quito, told The Associated Press: “I am stunned by the situation that has occurred (…) It is the worst action that I have been able to witness from a foreign government. “It is totally unacceptable that they have violated the diplomatic status of the embassy.”
“I simply fear for his life,” added Canseco, who struggled with the agents in a street next to the embassy and ended up on the floor, and assured that he was shot at.
The Ecuadorian government defended its actions in a statement in which it confirmed the arrest of Glas and his placing at the disposal of the judicial authorities.
The text, titled “We defend national sovereignty, zero impunity,” indicated that “no criminal can be considered politically persecuted” and added that “by having abused the immunities and privileges of the diplomatic mission that housed Glas and granting asylum diplomacy contrary to the conventional framework, his capture has been carried out.”
The Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Barcena, confirmed in another message on
“In this sense, Mexico’s diplomatic personnel in Ecuador will leave that country immediately,” he stressed, pointing out that his country “expects Ecuador to offer the necessary guarantees” for departure. Furthermore, Mexico will appeal to the International Court of Justice to denounce Ecuador’s responsibility for violations of International Law, he added.
Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry, prosecutors and Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP.
The Mexican embassy in Quito It had strong police guard on Friday night. Uniformed officers closed the main access avenue. Hours before, there were military groups in the vicinity of the diplomatic legation.
Shortly before the entry of the uniformed men, Bárcena had asked Ecuador, in a message in X, to grant Glas safe passage to leave the country. “The right to asylum is sacred and we are acting in full consistency with international conventions, granting asylum to #JorgeGlas. “I trust that the government of Ecuador will have safe passage as soon as possible.”
Tension between the two countries had increased the day before following López Obrador made statements that Ecuador considered “very unfortunate” regarding the elections won by his counterpart, Daniel Noboa.
The Mexican president alluded to the fact that the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio days before the elections had influenced the voting trend and affected the progressive candidate, who was at the head of the polls, in reference to Luisa González, appointed by the former president Rafael Correa.
González, from Revolución Ciudadana, was a presidential candidate following the decline of Jorge Glas.
In reaction to López Obrador’s statements, the Ecuadorian government declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata.
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2024-04-20 00:45:34
