Diplomatic crisis after embassy raid
Ecuadorian police forced their way into Mexico’s embassy in Quito on Saturday and pulled out a former vice-president who had sought asylum there, sparking a diplomatic crisis in a region becoming increasingly polarised between left and right.
The raid was a brazen move by Ecuador’s government, which sent a convoy of black vehicles with sirens blaring to break down the front gate of the embassy. When the Mexican consul tried to stop one of the vehicles as it exited, police grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground.
“This is totally unacceptable,” the consul, Roberto Canseco, told journalists, his voice breaking. “At risk of my life, I defended the honor and sovereignty of my country. This can’t be!”
The Mexican government had granted political asylum the previous day to Jorge Glas, the former Ecuadorian vice-president. Glas has been convicted twice for corruption. He claimed he was being persecuted by the country’s attorney general.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a longtime leftist, is an ally of Ecuador’s former president, Rafael Correa, who left office in 2017.
López Obrador prompted an uproar last week by saying that the new president, conservative Daniel Noboa, won the election in October because “they created this climate of fear.”
Ecuador was shocked during the campaign when gunmen assassinated a wellknown candidate, anti-corruption crusader Fernando Villavicencio, a crime blamed on drug cartels.
Ecuador responded to López Obrador’s remarks by declaring the Mexican ambassador persona non grata.
The dispute escalated sharply on Friday evening, local time. López Obrador said Ecuadorian police entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito “by force” to grab the former vice-president. Ecuadorian authorities confirmed Glas had been detained.
“No delinquent can be considered to be politically persecuted,” Ecuador’s government said in a statement. It said Mexico had “abused the immunity and privileges” its embassy enjoyed.
Mexico responded by breaking diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said the raid defied the Vienna Convention, which establishes the inviolability of embassies. Mexican diplomatic personnel were injured during the operation, Bárcena said.
Ecuador has been fighting a surge in violence attributed to drug traffickers battling over booming traffic in cocaine headed from Colombia to Europe and South America. Some are believed to be tied to Mexican cartels.