Maduro orders closure of Venezuelan embassy in Quito over law breach
3 Min Read
The Venezuelan head of State endorsed Mexico's appeal to the United Nations for the suspension of Ecuador's membership in the organization.
-
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a meeting with Saint Lucia's Prime Minister Philip Joseph Pierre at the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Oct. 6, 2023 (AP)
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday that Caracas is shutting down its embassy in Quito and bringing back its diplomats from Ecuador until there is a restoration of international law.
April 6 saw the Ecuadorian police raid Mexico's embassy in Quito, aiming to apprehend former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought asylum there following a corruption conviction. In response, Mexico suspended its diplomatic ties with Ecuador, citing injuries sustained by some Mexican diplomats during the police operation.
"Faced with this abnormal act of arrogance on the part of [Ecuadorian] President [Daniel] Noboa, I announce ... that I have ordered to immediately close our embassy in Ecuador, to close the consulate in Quito, to close the consulate in Guayaquil, and to immediately return our diplomatic personnel to Venezuela," Maduro said during an online summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The Venezuelan head of State endorsed Mexico's appeal to the United Nations for the suspension of Ecuador's membership in the organization.
"Venezuela fully supports Mexico's proposal to suspend Ecuador's membership in the UN until the country apologizes to the international community, returns Jorge Glas to the Mexican embassy, and recognizes his right to political shelter there," Maduro said, adding that the Ecuadorean president's actions in this context were a "barbarity, condemned by the entire world."
On April 12, Mexico lodged a complaint against Ecuador with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the incursion into its embassy.
Read more: Ecuador's Correa says Jorge Glas on hunger strike after failed suicide
Glas, who held a position in the administration of leftist Rafael Correa from 2013 to 2017, sought refuge in the Mexican embassy in December last year following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him on charges of corruption.
The government of Mexico granted him political asylum after which he sought refuge at the Embassy of Mexico in Quito. The government of Ecuador labeled the embassy's decision an "illicit act" and dismissed the idea of providing safe passage for Glas to leave and called Mexico's ambassador in Quito, Raquel Serur, persona non grata.
Mexico complained of "harassment" after the Ecuadorian government increased police presence outside the Mexican embassy, which Mexico's President slammed on April 5 during his daily address, saying, "This is what fascists are like."
Alicia Bárcena, Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs, informed the Mexican President of this "flagrant violation of international law and Mexico's sovereignty," an act which prompted the President to announce that he "instructed our Foreign Minister to issue a statement on this authoritarian act, proceed legally and immediately declare the suspension of diplomatic relations with the government of Ecuador."
Read more: Ecuador's top court rules Mexico embassy raid, Glas arrest 'illegal'
