QUITO, ECUADOR – Mexico’s president quickly decided to cut diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican embassy to arrest a former vice president who had sought political asylum there after being charged with corruption.
In an extraordinarily unusual move, Ecuadorian police forced their way into the embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas, who had resided there since December. Police forced open the exterior doors of the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in the Ecuadorian capital and entered the main courtyard to retrieve Glas.
On Saturday, he was taken from the attorney general’s office to a detention center in an armored vehicle followed by a convoy of military and police vehicles. People who had gathered in front of the prosecutor’s office shouted “force” as the vehicles began to advance.
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This raid prompted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to announce Friday evening the severance of diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
Glas was convicted of bribery and corruption. Ecuadorian authorities are still investigating other allegations against him.
“It’s not possible. This can’t be the case. It’s crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular section in Quito, told the local press outside the embassy. “I’m very worried because they might kill him. There’s no reason to do that. It’s totally out of the norm.”
Defending its decision, the Ecuadorian presidency said in a statement: “Ecuador is a sovereign nation and we will not allow any criminal to remain at large.”
López Obrador hit back, calling Glas’ detention an “authoritarian act” and a “flagrant violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty.”
Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Relations, posted on the social platform X that a number of diplomats were injured in the break-in, adding that it violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Diplomatic premises are considered “inviolable” under the Vienna Treaties and local law enforcement is not allowed to enter without permission from the ambassador. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lived in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years because British police could not get in to arrest him.
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Bárcena said Mexico would take the case to the International Court of Justice “to denounce Ecuador’s responsibility for violations of international law.” She also said that Mexican diplomats were just waiting for Ecuadorian government offer the necessary guarantees for their return home.
Ecuador’s foreign ministry and interior ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Mexican embassy in Quito remained under heavy police surveillance Friday evening.
The day before, tensions between the two countries intensified after the Mexican president made statements that Ecuador considered “very unfortunate” about last year’s elections, won by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.
In response, the Ecuadorian government declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata.
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