Daniel Lozano

Updated Sunday, April 7, 2024-18:57

  • Ecuador Ecuador opens a dangerous Pandora's box with the assault on the Mexican embassy

  • Tension Mexico and Ecuador break diplomatic relations after the assault on the embassy in Quito and the arrest of Correísta Glas

"Our

diplomatic staff returns home

with their heads and the name of Mexico held high

after the assault on our embassy

," reported the Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, a few minutes before the 18 Mexicans boarded a flight to their country. . Several ambassadors have accompanied them to the terminal out of solidarity.

The previous provocations by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the justifications of Daniel Noboa's government have not prevented unanimous international condemnation against the assault on the Mexican embassy in Quito. From the European Union and the Spanish Government, to the United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS), they have considered the police action

a violation of international law

. "A very serious action," said José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain.

Beyond the conviction for corruption and the new accusations against

Jorge Glas

, former vice president and right-hand man of Rafael Correa, Ecuador broke the existing 'status quo' with an unprecedented action in this century, with the

excuse that there was a "real risk of "imminent escape"

, as stated by the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Gabriela Sommerfeld. Correa himself, sentenced to seven years in prison also for corruption, remains a fugitive from justice.

So far, only Nicaragua has broken diplomatic relations with Ecuador, like Mexico, "in absolute rejection and condemnation of the neo-fascist political barbarity of the Ecuadorian government." A symbolic break, because in 2020 Daniel Ortega decided to close his embassy after former Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno demanded the democratization of Nicaragua.

The Sandinista leader, like López Obrador with Glas, has granted refuge in his embassy in Panama to former president Ricardo Martinelli, who was leading all the polls ahead of next month's elections. Martinelli is also persecuted for acts of corruption.

Luis Almagro, Secretary General of the OAS, has

invoked full respect for the inviolability of the embassies

and has called for

negotiation between the parties

, although he has also aired the contradiction of the Nicaraguan government that "carried out a similar attack in Managua against the OAS. "Neither in that case nor in this are ambiguities admissible, but rather the fullest coherence with international law."

Among the convictions, that of

María Corina Machado

, a Venezuelan opposition leader, who maintains good relations with Noboa, also stood out. "The institution of

asylum constitutes a political right

with a long tradition in Latin America, which must be respected by all governments in the region," highlighted Machado.

Six of his closest collaborators remain refugees, under siege by Chavista agents, in the Argentine Embassy in Caracas. Both electricity and water were cut off from the first day.

In the prison of La Roca

For his part, Glas spent his first night in La Roca, a maximum security prison, along with fifty inmates, including

leaders of drug gangs and corrupt politicians

, such as former Christian Social deputy Pablo Muentes; to the former chief of judges, Wilman Terán; and the son of the current vice president.

Glas' colleagues in the Assembly have called for the resignation of President Noboa, who took advantage of an indigenous ceremony in Otavalo to respond to criticism: "Ecuador's agenda is imposed by the majority, not a small group of relaxed people."

The government of Ecuador

is thus left alone internationally

, but internally Noboa can obtain political benefits, with presidential elections in sight next year and with the important referendum on security scheduled for two weeks. "I think they give the president electoral points by having a tough attitude against corruption," Michel Levi, coordinator of the Andean Center for International Studies in Quito, told EL MUNDO.

"The raid on the embassy

was illegal and is legally indefensible

. But there are two more things: López Obrador started all this and Noboa's electoral calculations played a role in the outcome," said analyst Martín Pallares.