(Quito) The diplomatic crisis is open between Ecuador and Mexico, which broke off relations with Quito after police raided the Mexican embassy on Friday to arrest former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas, wanted by justice, who had taken refuge there.
Images broadcast by local media show the entry of uniformed police officers into the embassy, in the north of the Ecuadorian capital, where they arrested Mr. Glas to whom Mexico had just granted asylum.
PHOTO DANIEL TAPIA, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador denounced a “flagrant violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty” in a message on the social network X.
“Mexico announces the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Ecuador,” Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena immediately wrote on X, specifying that the diplomatic staff would leave Quito immediately.
She requested “the necessary guarantees from Ecuador for the exit of Mexican (diplomatic) personnel,” according to a press release.
On 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.
The day before, the head of Mexican diplomacy had indicated that she was waiting for a response from the Ecuadorian authorities to send a plane to evacuate her diplomats.
” Scandal ! »
Local media broadcast images of the police burst into the embassy. 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.
Mme Barcena estimated, in televised statements, that the “physical aggression” of the head of the diplomatic mission was “clearly perceptible”, but that he was “fine” just like the rest of the staff.
Mexico granted asylum on Friday to Jorge Glas, who had taken refuge in its embassy in Quito since December 17 and was 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.
PHOTO MEXICAN PRESIDENCY, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
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 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 and clarified that the country was still in mourning by the death of Fernando Villavicencio, a fierce opponent of corruption.
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.
In recent years, Mexico has granted asylum or refuge to former Correa supporters.