Ecuadorian police raid the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrest former Vice President Jorge Glass.
Mexico suspended diplomatic relations with Ecuador after police forced their way into the country’s embassy in Quito and arrested former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Grasz, who had sought political asylum in the country.
Glass, who has been twice convicted of corruption, has been staying at the Mexican embassy since December, claiming he is being persecuted by Ecuadorian officials.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that it had offered Mr. Glass political asylum and called on Ecuador to grant him “safe passage” out of the country.
But on Friday night, Ecuadorian special forces wearing tactical gear, including bulletproof vests and helmets, forced their way into the embassy and arrested Glass.
“Ecuador is a sovereign country and we will not keep any criminals free,” Ecuador’s president said in a statement shortly before the attack.
Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador, in a post on Stated.
Adrian Pérez Salazar, a lawyer and political commentator, said that for many Ecuadorians, the fact that the convicted former vice president was granted political asylum by Mexico is a big deal, especially since he is an ally of Mexico’s president. Considering this, he said, it seemed like a “mockery of justice.”
“But the fact that there were such complaints does not justify forcible entry into the embassy, ​​at least under international law,” Salazar told Al Jazeera from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Mexico files suit with ICJ
Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena told X that many diplomats were injured in the incident, which she claimed was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Bárcena said Mexican diplomatic personnel would leave Ecuador “immediately,” adding that Mexico would appeal to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold Ecuador accountable for its violations of international law.
“International law is clear that the embassy should not be touched, and no matter what justifications the Ecuadorian government gives, this is a case where the ends do not justify the means,” Salazar told Al Jazeera.
The situation had worsened a day earlier after Mexico’s president made comments about Ecuador’s election, saying he considered the South American country “very disappointed.”
López Obrador was commenting on last year’s assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, comparing it to recent violence in Mexico leading up to the current election cycle in which several local candidates were gunned down.
He implied that front-runner Luisa Gonzalez ultimately lost the election because of Villavicencio’s murder and the media speculation it generated.
López Obrador also targeted “owners of media outlets” and others he judged to be contributing to an “atmosphere of violence” throughout the campaign.
The Ecuadorian government then declared Mexico’s ambassador, Raquel Cerul Smeque, persona non grata and instructed her to leave the country “immediately.”
Ecuador has been dealing with a new wave of violence since the beginning of this year, with riots breaking out in prisons across the country, criminal leaders escaping custody and masked gunmen bursting into live television and taking hostages. I took it.
