Diplomatic aftershocks of a Friday raid by Ecuador’s police who hauled a former Ecuadorian vice president from the Mexican embassy have led to a chasm opening up between Ecuador and Mexico.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador called the raid a “flagrant violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty” and said diplomatic relations would be paused, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Jorge Glas, a former vice president who had been convicted of corruption, had been granted political asylum by Mexico. Glas was part of a leftist government aligned with Mexico’s politics.
Roberto Canseco, Mexico’s chargé d’affaires, said he was assaulted during the raid.
“They threw me on the floor,” Canseco said. “Like criminals, they raided the Mexican embassy in Ecuador. This isn’t possible. This can’t be. It’s crazy.”
🇲🇽🇲🇽 🇪🇨🇪🇨
❗️Mexico Breaks Diplomatic Relations With Ecuador After Embassy RaidEcuador’s Ex-VP Jorge Glas had been given political asylum by Mexico earlier on Friday but that same night he was dragged from the diplomatic mission and in local police custody … pic.twitter.com/l7hGQORAyj
— 🌍Global Intel🌏 (@Global__Intel) April 6, 2024
Glas has been clapped in a maximum-security prison, with Ecuador so far offering no apologies for its action.
“No criminal can be considered to be politically persecuted. All embassies have only one purpose, to serve as a diplomatic space for relations between countries,” Ecuador said in a statement.
Will this lead to a greater divide in Central America?
Natalia Saltalamacchia, a professor on international relations at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, said the raid violated multiple international norms and agreements, according to the Associated Press.
“When a state like Ecuador makes decision like that, you’re really endangering all the embassies of all the states in the world,” Saltalamacchia said. “You enter into a state of anarchy, a sort of jungle law.”
Michael Shifter, a scholar of Latin America at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said the raid was a mistake, according to the Journal.
“The Ecuadorean government’s brazen attack on the Mexican embassy is a regrettable overreaction to López Obrador’s provocation that sets a dangerous precedent and is a clear violation of the Vienna Convention. Even dictatorships of the left and right in Latin America have adhered to this norm,” he said.
Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said Mexico will report the raid to the United Nations International Criminal Court in The Hague.
📽️ WATCH – Mexico welcomes home Ecuador embassy staff after armed raid
Mexico welcomed the return of its Ecuador embassy personnel on Sunday, two days after police raided the facility in an act that triggered an abrupt diplomatic break while provoking global shock and… pic.twitter.com/vaVk8Jw8cv
— PiQ (@PiQSuite) April 8, 2024
In a statement, the State Department said, “The United States condemns any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and takes very seriously the obligation of host countries under international law to respect the inviolability of diplomatic missions.”
“Mexico and Ecuador are crucial partners of the United States, and we place a high value on our relations with both countries. We encourage the two countries to resolve their differences in accord with international norms,” the statement said.
Bárcena said 18 Latin American governments, 10 European nations, and the U.S. and Canada are lined up on Mexico’s side, according to Reuters.
