Mexico severs ties with Ecuador after police storm its embassy

Mexico’s Government severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vicepresident — an extraordinary use of force that shocked and mystified regional leaders and diplomats.

Ecuadorian police on Saturday broke through the doors of the embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been residing there since December. Glas sought political asylum at the embassy after being indicted on corruption charges.

The raid prompted Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to announce the breaking-off of diplomatic relations with Ecuador, while his Government’s foreign relations secretary said the move will be challenged at the World Court in The Hague.

“This is not possible. It cannot be. This is crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular section in Quito, said. “I am very worried because they could kill him. There is no basis to do this. This is totally outside the norm.”

Yesterday, Glas was taken from the attorney-general’s office in Quito to the port city of Guayaquil, where he will remain in custody at a maximumsecurity prison. People who had gathered outside the prosecutor’s office yelled “strength” as he left with a convoy of police and military vehicles.

Glas’ attorney, Sonia Vera, told The Associated Press officers broke into his room and he resisted when they attempted to put his hands behind his back. She said the officers then “knocked him to the floor, kicked him in the head, in the spine, in the legs, the hands,” and when he “couldn’t walk, they dragged him out”.

Vera said the defence team was not allowed to speak with Glas while he was at the prosecutor’s office, and it is now working to file a habeas corpus petition.

Authorities are investigating Glas over alleged irregularities during his management of reconstruction efforts following a powerful earthquake in 2016 that killed hundreds of people. He was convicted on bribery and corruption charges in other cases.

Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Gabriela Sommerfeld, yesterday said the decision to enter the embassy was made by President Daniel Noboa after considering Glas’ “imminent flight risk” and exhausting all possibilities for diplomatic dialogue with Mexico.

Mexico granted Glas asylum hours before the raid. Sommerfeld said “it is not legal to grant asylum to people convicted of common crimes and by competent courts”.

Diplomatic premises are considered foreign soil and “inviolable” under the Vienna treaties and host country law enforcement agencies are not allowed to enter without the permission of the ambassador.

People seeking asylum have lived anywhere from days to years at embassies around the world, including at Ecuador’s in London, which housed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for seven years because British police could not enter to arrest him.

Noboa became Ecuador’s President last year as the nation battled unprecedented crime tied to drug trafficking.