Ecuadorian police officers entered the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday night to arrest Ecuador’s former vice president who had taken refuge there, prompting Mexico to suspend bilateral relations.
Jorge Glas, the former vice president, had been sentenced to prison and there was an arrest warrant against him before Mexico granted him asylum, Ecuador’s presidential office said in a statement. declaration announcing the arrest. Mr Glas had been living at the embassy since December and was granted political asylum last Friday.
The statement states that “no criminal can be considered politically persecuted.”
The statement, coming from the office of President Daniel Noboa, adds that the arrest occurred because Mexico abused the immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission and that Mr. Glas’ asylum was granted “contrary to the conventional legal framework “.
Shortly after the arrest, the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, issued an alert declaration stating that the arrest was a “flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico” and that Ecuadorian police had forcibly entered the embassy.
Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena Ibarra declared in a statement the severing of diplomatic relations with Ecuador. declarationstating that Mexican diplomatic personnel had sustained injuries in the incident.
This is a developing story.
