Mexico has suspended diplomatic relations with Ecuador after police forcibly broke into its embassy in Quito and arrested former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas who had sought political asylum there.
Glas, who had been convicted twice of corruption, has been staying in the Mexican embassy since December, claiming he was being persecuted by Ecuadorian officials.
Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Friday that it had offered political asylum to Glas, calling on Ecuador to grant him “safe passage” out of the country.
But Ecuadorian Special Forces, wearing tactical gear including bulletproof vests and helmets, forcefully entered the embassy on Friday night and arrested Glas.
“Ecuador is a sovereign nation and we are not going to allow any criminal to stay free,” Ecuador’s presidency wrote in a statement shortly before the raid.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote in a post on X that the storming of the embassy and arrest of Glas constitute an “authoritarian act” and “a flagrant violation of international law and sovereignty of Mexico”.
For many Ecuadorians it seemed like a “mockery of justice” that the convicted former vice president was being granted political asylum by Mexico, especially considering that he is an ally of the Mexican president, said lawyer and political commentator Adrian Perez Salazar.
“But the fact that there was this grievance does not – at least under international law – justify the forceful breach of an embassy,” Salazar told Al Jazeera from Guayaquil, Ecuador.
