Ecuador police storm Mexico’s embassy in Quito to arrest former vp Jorge Glas.
Mexico has suspended diplomatic relations with Ecuador after police forcibly broke into its embassy in Quito and arrested former Ecuadorian vp Jorge Glas who had sought political asylum there.
Glas, who had been convicted twice of corruption, has been staying within the Mexican embassy since December, claiming he was being persecuted by Ecuadorian officers.
Mexico’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs stated in a press release on Friday that it had provided political asylum to Glas, calling on Ecuador to grant him “secure passage” in a foreign country.
However Ecuadorian particular forces, sporting tactical gear together with bulletproof vests and helmets, forcefully entered the embassy on Friday night time and arrested Glas.
“Ecuador is a sovereign nation and we’re not going to permit any felony to remain free,” Ecuador’s presidency wrote in a press release shortly earlier than the raid.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote in a put up on X that the storming of the embassy and arrest of Glas represent an “authoritarian act” and “a flagrant violation of worldwide regulation and sovereignty of Mexico”.
For a lot of Ecuadorians it appeared like a “mockery of justice” that the convicted former vp was being granted political asylum by Mexico, particularly contemplating that he’s an ally of the Mexican president, stated lawyer and political commentator Adrian Perez Salazar.
“However the truth that there was this grievance doesn’t – at the very least underneath worldwide regulation – justify the forceful breach of an embassy,” Salazar advised Al Jazeera from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Mexico to take case to ICJ
Alicia Barcena, Mexico’s international minister, stated on X that quite a lot of diplomats suffered accidents throughout the incident – which she known as a violation of the Vienna Conference on diplomatic relations.
Mexican diplomatic personnel will “instantly” go away Ecuador, Barcena stated, including that Mexico will attraction to the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice (ICJ) to carry Ecuador accountable for violations of worldwide regulation.
“Worldwide regulation could be very clear that embassies are to not be touched, and no matter no matter justifications the Ecuadorian authorities may need, it’s a case the place the top doesn’t justify the means,” Salazar advised Al Jazeera.
The scenario had escalated a day earlier after the Mexican president made remarks about Ecuador’s elections which the South American nation stated it thought of “very unlucky”.
Lopez Obrador had commented on the assassination final yr of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, evaluating it with current violence within the run-up to the present election cycle in Mexico, which had seen a number of native candidates gunned down.
He implied that frontrunner Luisa Gonzalez finally misplaced the election due to Villavicencio’s homicide and the media hypothesis it produced.
Lopez Obrador additionally took purpose at “homeowners of media shops” and those who he deemed had been accountable for an “ambiance of violence” all through election campaigns.
Ecuador’s authorities subsequently declared Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke as persona non grata and directed her to go away the nation “quickly”.
Ecuador has been coping with a brand new wave of violence since earlier this yr, when riots erupted in prisons throughout the nation, felony leaders escaped custody and masked gunmen stormed a stay tv broadcast and took hostages.