Mexico breaks relations with Ecuador after embassy raid
“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 on Friday afternoon 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 this 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 well-known 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 Friday evening. 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 Friday night by breaking diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
“This is a flagrant violation of international law and of Mexico’s sovereignty,” López Obrador tweeted. He said he was severing diplomatic relations because of the “authoritarian act.”
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.
Latin America has become increasingly divided along ideological lines. There have been several dust-ups recently pitting traditional leftists such as López Obrador and Colombian President Gustavo Petro against politicians like ultraright President Javier Milei of Argentina and Nayib Bukele, the tough-on-crime leader of El Salvador.
López Obrador has largely maintained a pragmatic relationship with the United States, his country’s No. 1 trading partner. But he has been feuding with a number of conservative governments in Latin America. Peru and Bolivia have withdrawn their ambassadors because of critical comments by the Mexican leader.
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