Mexico breaks ties with Ecuador after police storm embassy

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has quickly moved to break off diplomatic ties with Ecuador after the police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former VicePresident who had sought political asylum there after being indicted on corruption charges.

In an extraordinarily unusual move, the Ecuadorian police forced their way into the embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been residing there since December. The police broke through the external doors of the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in the Ecuadorian capital and entered the main patio to get Mr. Glas.

On Saturday, he was taken from the attorney general’s office to a detention facility in an armoured vehicle followed by a convoy of military and police vehicles. People who had gathered outside the prosecutor’s office yelled “strength” as the vehicles began to move.

The raid prompted Mr. López Obrador to announce the break of diplomatic relations with Ecuador on Friday evening.

Mr. Glas has been convicted on bribery and corruption charges. Ecuadorian authorities are still investigating more allegations against him.

“This is not possible. It cannot be. This is crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular section in Quito, told local press while standing outside the embassy. “I am very worried because they could kill him. There is no

Ecuadorian police went into Mexican embassy to arrest ex Vice-President accused of graft

basis to do this. This is totally outside the norm.”

Defending its decision, Ecuador’s presidency said in a statement: “Ecuador is a sovereign nation and we are not going to allow any criminal to stay free.”

Mr. López Obrador fired back, calling Mr. Glas’s detention an “authoritarian act” and “a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico.”

Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s secretary of foreign relations, posted on ◣ that a number of diplomats suffered injuries during the breakin, adding that it violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Diplomatic premises are considered “inviolable” under the Vienna treaties and local law enforcement agencies are not allowed to enter without the permission of the Ambassador.

Ms. Bárcena said that Mexico would take the case to the International Court of Justice “to denounce Ecuador’s responsibility for violations of international law.”

A day earlier, tensions between the two countries escalated after Mexico’s President made statements that Ecuador considered “very unfortunate” about last year’s election, won by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.

In reaction, the Ecuadorian government declared the Mexican Ambassador persona non grata.