Mexico, followed by Nicaragua on Saturday, broke off diplomatic relations with Ecuador, after police burst into the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president, Jorge Glas, who took refuge there.
The police operation within the Mexican diplomatic representation was strongly criticized by left-wing governments in Latin America, from Brazil to Venezuela, including Chile.
The President of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, who holds the temporary presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), called for an “emergency” meeting of the “troika” on Monday.
Images broadcast by local media show the entry of uniformed police officers into the embassy, in the north of the Ecuadorian capital, wanted by the courts, to whom Mexico had just granted asylum.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denounced a “flagrant violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty”.
“Mexico announces the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Ecuador,” Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena immediately wrote on X.
She requested “the necessary guarantees from Ecuador for the exit of personnel [diplomatique] Mexican,” according to a statement released Saturday.
Saturday morning, the Mexican embassy was surrounded by police and the national flag had been removed from its pole in the courtyard of the building, noted an AFP photographer.
Nicaragua, which expressed “solidarity” with Mexico, followed suit.
“Faced with the unusual and reprehensible action […]which arouses irrevocable rejection, we take the sovereign decision to sever all diplomatic relations with the Ecuadorian government,” the government of President Daniel Ortega said in a statement.
The Brazilian government condemned “in the strongest terms” the police operation in the Mexican embassy, calling it “a clear violation” of international conventions, with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressing on X “all his solidarity with the president and friend Lopez Obrador.
” Scandal ! »
In images published in local media, we see the head of the Mexican diplomatic mission, Roberto Canseco shouting “it’s a scandal!” » while running after vehicles leaving his embassy. A stampede ensued, during which Mr. Canseco fell to the ground.
Mexico on Friday granted asylum to Jorge Glas, who has taken refuge in its embassy in Quito since December 17 and is the subject of an arrest warrant for alleged corruption.
Quito immediately described this decision as “illegal”.
“Each embassy has a unique objective: to serve as a diplomatic space with the aim of strengthening relations between countries,” commented the Ecuadorian Ministry of Communication, adding that “no criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person “.
The former vice-president “Jorge Glas was the subject of an enforceable conviction and an arrest warrant issued by the competent authorities,” he said.
The granting of asylum to Mr. Glas came the day after Ecuador’s decision to expel the Mexican ambassador to Quito, following criticism by the Mexican president of the conduct of the Ecuadorian presidential election in 2023.
On Wednesday, Mr. Lopez Obrador accused the Ecuadorian authorities of having exploited the assassination of opposition candidate Fernando Villavicencio, on August 9, 2023, to favor the election of the liberal Daniel Noboa to the presidency of Ecuador, to the detriment of left-wing candidate Luisa González.
Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead after a campaign rally in northern Quito a few days before the August 20 election. Seven suspects were arrested for the crime, but were killed in prison.
The Ecuadorian government considered these comments offensive.
Glas released from prison in November
Jorge Glas, former vice-president between 2013 and 2017 under former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), is accused of having embezzled public funds intended for the reconstruction of coastal cities after a devastating earthquake in 2016.
In another case, Mr. Glas was sentenced in December 2017 to six years in prison for corruption in a vast scandal involving the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. He was released from prison last November.
Former President Rafael Correa, a fugitive sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption, wrote on X that “even in the worst dictatorships, a country’s embassy was not violated.”
“We hold Daniel Noboa responsible for the security and physical and psychological integrity of former Vice President Jorge Glas,” Mr. Correa added.