2024-04-07 12:09:50
The operation ordered by the Ecuadorian government that led to the attack on the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday, in order to capture former vice president Jorge Glasgenerated not only the breakdown of diplomatic relations of the Mexican government, but the president Daniel Noboa must now face the cost of a widespread diplomatic repudiation, both from countries with left-wing or right-wing executives, and even the Organization of American States (OAS) was markedly critical of the procedure, which brutally violated the precepts of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunities.
This Vienna Convention has been in force since 1961, and in addition to the formalities, it is a vital guarantee for the security and well-being of diplomats and citizens of a country in foreign territory.
Drug trafficking as a background
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterresin a statement signed by its spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, was “alarmed” for the shocking unprecedented operation and stressed that “violations of this principle endanger the continuation of normal international relations, which are fundamental to the advancement of cooperation between States”said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in a statement. Likewise, the UN chief urged both Ecuador and Mexico to show “moderation” and “resolve their differences by peaceful means,” he added.
Massive Latin American repudiation
Mexico obviously denounced the “flagrant violation of international law” and its “sovereignty.” The shocking operation forcibly removed Correa’s former vice president from that diplomatic headquarters and led Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to immediately break diplomatic relations with Ecuador. Nicaragua imitated it shortly after, but other left-wing governments in the region, such as those of Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela y Chile, both on the right and those of Argentina y Peruwere unanimous in condemning the assault which culminated in the forcible arrest of Glas, who had taken refuge in that diplomatic headquarters since December and had been convicted of corruption.
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Likewise, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller indicated that “The United States condemns any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and takes very seriously the obligations of countries under international law to respect the inviolability of diplomatic missions.”
“Mexico and Ecuador are crucial partners of the United States and we place a high value on our relationships with both countries. “We urge the two nations to resolve their differences in accordance with international standards,” the statement added.
Images from Friday show armed Ecuadorian uniformed men with a battering ram in front of the embassy. At least one of them scaled the fence that surrounds the building to enter and arrest Glas, who had received political asylum by the Government of Lopez Obrador and had been at the Mexican diplomatic headquarters since last December.
The Mexican embassy in Quito remained surrounded by police this Sunday and the country’s flag had been removed from its flagpole in the courtyard, an AFP photographer confirmed.
López Obrador on Saturday asked his compatriots “behave very carefully to avoid harassment” in the midst of diplomatic tension. Furthermore, the Mexican government announced that his delegation in Ecuador will return to the country on Sunday on a commercial flight and that The embassy in Quito will be closed “indefinitely.”
On the other hand, the Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Gabriela Sommerfeld, argued this Saturday that the decision to enter the Mexican embassy in Quito to capture former vice president Jorge Glas was made because there was a “real risk of imminent flight” and that Ecuador had already “exhausted the diplomatic dialogue with Mexico regarding this issue.”
Jorge Glas, former vice president between 2013 and 2017 of former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), He is accused of diverting public funds intended for the reconstruction of coastal towns after a devastating earthquake in 2016.
On Saturday the politician was transferred to a maximum security prison in Guayaquil (southwest) known as “The Rock”, according to government sources.
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In another trial, the former official was sentenced in December 2017, when he had been re-elected, to six years in prison for the corruption plot of the Brazilian firm Odebrecht. In 2022 he obtained his conditional release by benefiting from a writ of habeas corpus.
Former President Correa, exiled in Belgium since 2017 and sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for corruption, said in X that Glas “He has difficulty walking because he was hit. “All of this is crazy.” Despite the physical violence that the diplomat suffered, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena indicated that he is “fine” as is the rest of the delegation.
Mexico described the operation as “brutal” and denounced “physical violence” against the head of mission Roberto Canseco, who was subdued to the ground by a uniformed man while trying to avoid Glas’s capture, according to images from Ecuadorian television. Despite the blows, the Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, indicated that the diplomat is “fine” as is the rest of the delegation.
In that sense, López Obrador announced that he will present a complaint before the International Court of Justice.
The escalation of the conflict between Mexico and Ecuador
The diplomatic crisis began on Wednesday, when López Obrador raised a parallel between the violence that marked the 2023 Ecuadorian presidential campaign, during which the candidate was murdered. Fernando Villavicencioand the crime that is registered in Mexico in the face of the elections on June 2.
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According to AMLO, the Villavicencio crime created a “rarefied atmosphere of violence” which caused the drop in the polls of the leftist candidate Luisa González and the rise of Daniel Noboa, who was the winner. A declared enemy of Correismo, Villavicencio was known for his denunciations of the strengthening of drug trafficking, for expose both the government and businessmenworked on the investigation of government contracts, accusations of bribery and other acts of corruption: his work focused on shedding light on issues of public interest and promoting the responsibility of authorities.
The Noboa government considered that these comments “offend the Ecuadorian State” and expelled the Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur, who has not yet left the country.
In response, Mexico granted political asylum on Friday to Glas, who had remained a refugee in its diplomatic headquarters in Quito since December, alleging a political persecution against him.
Noboa “broke all the behavioral patterns of traditional diplomacy,” Roberto Beltrán Zambrano, professor of conflict management at the Private Technical University of Loja, in Ecuador, told AFP.
In Mexico City, dozens of people demonstrated accusing the Quito government of “fascist” in front of the Ecuadorian embassy, guarded by police.
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