This is an intrusion without recent precedent in the world. On Friday, April 5, Ecuadorian police officers broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, accused of corruption, who had taken refuge there in December and had a few hours earlier obtained political asylum.
This is a violation of the Vienna Convention which guarantees the inviolability of embassies, several Latin American governments have denounced. Mexico and Nicaragua announced they were breaking diplomatic relations with Ecuador, while the UN and the United States expressed alarm and asked the two countries to “resolve their differences”. Mexican diplomatic personnel based in Quito will leave Ecuador this Sunday, April 7.
Diplomatic escalation
On Wednesday April 3, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador accused the Ecuadorian authorities of having exploited the assassination of opposition candidate Fernando Villavicencio on August 9, 2023, to favor the election of Daniel Noboa as president of Ecuador, to the detriment of the left-wing candidate. The next day, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided, in response, to “declare persona non grata the Mexican ambassador in Quito, Raquel Serur Smeke”, ordered to leave the country “at short notice”, he said. announced in a press release. The Ecuadorian authorities also demanded the surrender of the country’s former vice-president, Jorge Glas, who had taken refuge in the Mexican embassy since December 17.
Vice-president between 2013 and 2017, the latter is accused of having embezzled public funds intended for the reconstruction of coastal cities after an earthquake in 2016. In another case, he was sentenced in 2017 to six years in prison for corruption in a vast scandal involving the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, and was released last November.
But on Friday April 5, Mexico decided to grant asylum to Jorge Glas, in reaction to the request for expulsion of its ambassador. In the process, Ecuador described this asylum as “illegal” under international law and denounced an “abuse of immunities and privileges” granted to the embassy and interference in its internal affairs. “Jorge Glas has been the subject of an enforceable sentence and an arrest warrant issued by the competent authorities,” commented the Ecuadorian Ministry of Communication. “As a result, Ecuador will not grant any safe conduct (to Jorge Glas to leave the country), because it is not justified,” said the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An “extraordinary” raid
The escalation took a completely different turn when, after Mexico’s announcement to grant asylum to Jorge Glas, Ecuadorian police officers burst into the Mexican embassy to arrest the former vice-president. Images published in local media show the head of the Mexican diplomatic mission, Roberto Canseco, shouting “it’s a scandal!” while running behind vehicles leaving his embassy. A stampede ensued, during which Roberto Canseco fell to the ground.
“It’s totally out of the norm, I’m very worried that they could kill Jorge Glas,” the head of the diplomatic mission told local television, still trembling.
Jorge Glas was transferred on Saturday to a high security prison in Guayaquil (southwest of Ecuador), according to government sources. The National Service for Comprehensive Attention to Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Delinquents (SNAI) confirmed the presence of Jorge Glas in a prison in Guayacil, reports the Argentinian daily The Nation. In a press release published on social networks, the SNAI announces that the former vice-president “is at the Center for Deprivation of Liberty (CPL) Guayas N 3. He will undergo a medical evaluation there and “will be placed in accordance with the classification criteria initials” of the penitentiary, according to the note cited by the newspaper.
Violation of the Vienna Convention
Mexico then announced on the evening of April 5 “the immediate severance” of its diplomatic relations with Ecuador. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called this intervention “a blatant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico”, in a message on the social network […] to immediately declare the suspension of diplomatic relations with the Ecuadorian government.”
The intrusion was widely condemned by left-wing governments across Latin America, from Brazil to Venezuela, Chile and even the Argentina of ultraliberal President Javier Milei. Same for Spain. Nicaragua also announced that it would break all diplomatic relations with Ecuador. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday he was “alarmed” by the raid, believing that any violation of diplomatic precincts “compromises the pursuit of normal international relations”, according to his spokesperson. He urged Ecuador and Mexico to exercise “moderation” and “resolve their differences by peaceful means.”
The United States – which condemns “any violation of the Vienna Convention” – also encouraged the two states “to resolve their differences in accordance with international standards”, according to a State Department spokesperson. Mexico announced its intention to denounce the irruption of the police into its embassy before the International Court of Justice, alleging an “irreparable violation” of the Vienna Convention, which stipulates that “the premises of the representation are inviolable”. Ecuador, for its part, defended its action, arguing that “no criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person.”
In the meantime, Mexican diplomatic staff based in Quito will be evacuated from the city this Sunday. Eighteen people, diplomats and members of their families, will leave for Mexico aboard a commercial flight, announced the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among them are Ambassador Raquel Serur – who had been declared “persona non grata” by Ecuador – and the head of the diplomatic mission Roberto Canseco. All will be accompanied to the airport by personnel from “friendly and allied countries” who have offered to “ensure” their “integrity”, details the ministry.