Mexico severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador after Ecuadorian police officers on Friday arrested Jorge Glas, an Ecuadorian politician who had been granted refuge at the Mexican embassy in Quito.
That arrest, which Mexico described as a “violation” of its sovereignty, capped days of escalating tensions between the two Latin American countries. Ecuador considered Mr. Glas a fugitive and said its police force was acting on an arrest warrant for Mr. Glas.
Here’s what to know about the politician at the center of the dispute.
Jorge Glas is a former vice president of Ecuador.
Glas held several ministerial roles under the left-wing government of a former Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa. Glas’ most important role was as Correa’s vice president, a position he held from 2013 to 2017.
His tenure as vice president in the subsequent government, led by Lenín Moreno, lasted only a few months. In 2017, he was forced from office and sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of receiving more than $13.5 million in scrap metal.
The waste involved Odebrecht, an international construction giant accepted for scrapping in more than a dozen paying countries. The corruption scandal has implicated current and former Latin American officials and has shaken the political establishment.
He remained mired in other underhanded allegations.
In 2020, another robbery case led to Mr Glas being found guilty of accepting money in exchange for issuing public contracts between 2012 and 2016.
The case was followed closely, not just because of Glas’ involvement: Among those ultimately convicted of accepting some $8 million in scrap was Correa, the country’s magnetic but controversial former president. Both Mr. Correa and Mr. Glas were sentenced to eight years in prison, a sentence that Mr. Correa said was politically motivated.
Mr. Glas was released early from prison inNovember 2022, after lawyers argued he was not safe behind bars. Faced with new accusations by the Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office for alleged embezzlement of public funds, in December he asked for asylum in Mexico. For months he stayed in the Mexican embassy area in Quito.
His arrest at the Mexican embassy severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
The former vice president’s asylum status has been a growing point of contention between the two nations for months. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador said in March that he had requested Mexico’s permission to arrest Mr. Glas.
In the days before Glas’ arrest, the relationship between the two countries became more tense after the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, appeared to question the legitimacy of Ecuador’s latest presidential elections, and commented last year’s murder of Glas publicly. an Ecuadorian political candidate.
Ecuador on Thursday criticized Mr. López Obrador for commenting on the assassination and for declaring the Mexican ambassador “persona non grata,” or unwelcome. In response, Mexico said it had instructed its ambassador to return to Mexico. In the same statement, Mexico said would grant political asylum to Mr. Glas and condemned the growing presence of Ecuadorian authorities near the embassy.
Mexico has granted political asylum to other former officials from Latin American countries accused of corruption, creating friction within the region. In 2019, it granted asylum to Evo Morales, former president of Bolivia, and in 2022 to the family of Pedro Castillothe former president of Peru.
Following Mr. Glas’ arrest by Ecuador, local news reports showed two black cars, sirens blaring, driving away as police officers detained onlookers. Mexican officials immediately severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador, calling Mr. Glas’s kidnapping a violation of international law.
Ecuador’s government said the decision to arrest Glas was made because Mexico had abused its use of diplomatic immunities and privileges.
“The national government defends national sovereignty, without allowing anyone to interfere in the internal affairs of the country,” read a statement from Ecuador’s presidential office on Friday.
