Mexico suspends diplomatic ties with Ecuador after embassy breach

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Apr 2024 08:39
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Ecuadorian police forcibly enter Mexico's embassy in Quito and detain asylum-seeking former Vice President Jorge Glas amid a growing rift between the two countries.

Ecuadorian police break into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024. (AP)

"Ecuadorian police forcibly entered our embassy and detained the former [Ecuadorian] Vice President of that country, who was a refugee and seeking asylum due to the persecution and harassment he is facing," said Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, President of Mexico, in a post on X.

According to the President's post, Alicia Bárcena, Mexico's Secretary of Foreign Affairs, informed him 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."

Me acaba de informar Alicia Bárcena, nuestra secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores que policías de Ecuador entraron por la fuerza a nuestra embajada y se llevaron detenido al exvicepresidente de ese país quien se encontraba refugiado y tramitando asilo por la persecución y el acoso…
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) April 6, 2024

Diplomatic asylum amid rising tensions

The government of Mexico granted political asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who took refuge at the Embassy of Mexico in Quito. The government of Ecuador, under President Daniel Noboa, labeled the embassy's decision as an "illicit act" and dismissed the idea of providing safe passage for Glas to leave, prompting the government to consider Mexico's ambassador in Quito, Raquel Serur, persona non grata.

What the FUCK. Ecuadorian armed forces break into Mexican embassy to kidnap ex Vice President Jorge Glas. Speechless. This cannot stand pic.twitter.com/9bX6YV6zJS
— David Adler (@davidrkadler) April 6, 2024

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs had released a statement explaining that "after a thorough analysis" of the situation, the decision would be officially communicated to the Ecuadorian authorities along with the request to grant Glas safe passage, in accordance with the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry reminded that as per the provisions of said Convention, the asylum-seeking State (Mexico) is the only one empowered to qualify the nature of the persecution against political asylum-seekers and its decision to continue with the asylum must be respected by the territorial State (Ecuador).

As such, once asylum is granted, the granting State may request the departure of the beneficiary, in which case it is Glas, to a foreign territory, and the territorial State is obliged to immediately grant the corresponding safe passage, Prensa Latina news agency reported.

'This is what fascists are like'

Formerly, on Friday, April 5, Ecuador noted that according to international conventions, "it is not legal to grant asylum to people convicted or prosecuted for common crimes and by competent ordinary courts."

Mexico had 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."

Glas, who held a position in the administration of leftist Rafael Correa from 2013 to 2017, sought shelter in the Mexican embassy in December last year following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him on charges of corruption.

Mexico criticizes Ecuador's elections

Tensions escalated following Lopez Obrador's remarks on April 3, where he drew parallels between the 2023 election violence in Ecuador—resulting in the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio—and the current crime situation in Mexico ahead of the June 2 legislative and presidential elections.

Lopez Obrador attributed the decline in popularity of leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez and the surge of support for Noboa to violence and "manipulation" by certain media outlets.

The Ecuadorian government condemned his remarks as insensitive, stating that the nation was still grieving for Villavicencio, a vocal anti-corruption advocate. Not long ago, Ecuador was regarded as an oasis of peace amid neighboring major cocaine producers Peru and Colombia, but today it grapples with gang violence associated with drug trade.