The rag is burning between the two Latin American countries. Mexico announced, Friday April 5, "the severance of its diplomatic relations with Ecuador, after a muscular intervention by the Ecuadorian police forces at the Mexican embassy to arrest the former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas who was a refugee there.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called this intervention "a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico", in a message on the social network X.
I wanted to inform Alicia Bárcena, the new secretariat of External Relations that the Ecuadorian police entered into her new embassy and was detained by the exvice president of this country who found herself a refugee and asylum seeker for persecution and acoso…
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) April 6, 2024
“Mexico announces the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Ecuador,” Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena wrote shortly after, also on X, also referring to “injuries suffered by Mexican diplomatic personnel” during the intervention in his embassy.
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”.
The expulsion of the Mexican ambassador to Ecuador
Images broadcast by Ecuadorian and Mexican media showed the entry of uniformed police officers into the Mexican embassy, located in the north of Quito, in order to arrest Jorge Glas.
This was the moment when the Ecuador police arrived at the Mexico embassy. https://t.co/vbLLXmj2sv#VideosLaJornada pic.twitter.com/SmO6kCYTBt
— La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) April 6, 2024
“Each embassy has a unique objective: to serve as a diplomatic space with the aim of strengthening relations between countries,” explained the Ecuadorian Ministry of Communication, adding that “no criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person ".
Former vice-president “Jorge Glas was the subject of an enforceable conviction and an arrest warrant issued by the competent authorities,” he insisted.
Mexico's granting of asylum to Jorge Glas on Friday came the day after Ecuador's decision to expel the Mexican ambassador to Quito, Raquel Serur. The latter was declared persona non grata following remarks by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on political violence in Ecuador.
Also read: Diana Salazar, Ecuador's hope against corruption
With AFP
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