Venezuela slams US, Canada silence on Mexican embassy storming

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Apr 2024 17:40

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto criticizes the United States and Canada for remaining silent on the storming of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador by local police.

Venezuelan FM Yvan Gil Pinto listens during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, November 16, 2023. (AP)

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil Pinto criticized the United States and Canada for their "complicit silence" regarding the storming of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador by local police, describing it as "shameful, but not surprising."

According to reports, on Friday night, Ecuadorian police used armed vehicles to raid the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrest former Ecuadorian President Jorge Glas, who had sought refuge there for an extended period. Following these events, Mexico City suspended diplomatic relations with Quito.

El silencio cómplice de los gobiernos de EEUU y Canadá, en relación al secuestro de Jorge Glas y la violación de la soberanía mexicana por parte del gobierno ecuatoriano es un acto vergonzoso pero que no sorprende.

Acostumbrados a instrumentalizar el derecho internacional, de…
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) April 7, 2024

"The complicit silence of the US and Canadian governments regarding the kidnapping of Jorge Glas and the violation of Mexican sovereignty by the government of Ecuador is a shameful, but not surprising act. Accustomed to instrumentalizing international law to attack sovereign nations, they [the US and Canada] remain silent before the true face and barbarities perpetrated by their lackeys," Gil said on X.

He further stated that Latin America will seek to "restore justice" in the situation.

'A fascist act'

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro described the incident in a post on his X account on Saturday as "an act of barbarism" and announced that he fully rejects the "fascist" incursion breaching international laws.

"It is an act of barbarism, something never seen in Latin America, the right-wing pro-Yankee government of Ecuador brutally violated International Law, assaulting the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador and kidnapping a political asylum seeker, thus recognized by the Mexican government," Maduro said.

He declared that "Venezuela raises its voice forcefully to reject this fascist act against International Law and expresses its full and absolute solidarity with the president, @lopezobrador_ and the people of Mexico."

The Organization of American States (OAS) based in Washington expressed on Saturday solidarity with "those who were victims of the inappropriate actions that affected the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador” and urged Mexico and Ecuador to steer away from escalating the situation and resort instead to resolving the incident via dialogue.

The OAS announced that its permanent council will convene to discuss the need for "strict compliance with international treaties, including those that guarantee the right to asylum."

It also reminded that its members - including Mexico and Ecuador - are "obliged" not to “invoke norms of domestic law to justify non-compliance with their international obligations.”