QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The Mexican president has rapidly moved to interrupt off diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president who had sought political asylum there after being indicted on corruption charges.Andrés Manuel López Obrador made the announcement Friday night after Ecuadorian police pressured their method into the embassy within the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas who has been residing there since December. Glas, arguably probably the most needed man in Ecuador, has been convicted on bribery and corruption costs and Ecuadorian authorities are nonetheless investigating more allegations in opposition to him.Police broke by the exterior doorways of the Mexican diplomatic headquarters within the Ecuadorian capital and entered the principle patio to get Glas.
Police try to interrupt into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024, following Mexico’s granting of asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought refuge there. Police later forcibly broke into the embassy by one other entrance. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
“This is not possible. It cannot be. This is crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular part in Quito, advised native press whereas standing outdoors the embassy. “I am very worried because they could kill him. There is no basis to do this. This is totally outside the norm.”
Defending its choice, Ecuador’s presidency stated in a assertion: “Ecuador is a sovereign nation and we are not going to allow any criminal to stay free.”
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López Obrador fired back, calling Glas’ detention an “authoritarian act” and “a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico.”
Roberto Canseco, of the Mexican consulate, stands at an entrance of the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, after Ecuadorian police forcibly broke into the premises, Friday, April 5, 2024. The raid came about hours after the Mexican authorities granted former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas political asylum. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s secretary of overseas relations, posted on the social platform X that a quantity of diplomats suffered accidents during the break-in, including that it violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.Diplomatic premises are thought of “inviolable” underneath the Vienna treaties and native law enforcement businesses should not allowed to enter with out the permission of the ambassador. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lived inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for seven years as a result of British police couldn’t enter to arrest him.
Bárcena stated that Mexico would take the case to the International Court of Justice “to denounce Ecuador’s responsibility for violations of international law.” She additionally stated Mexican diplomats have been solely ready for the Ecuadorian authorities to offer the mandatory ensures for his or her return home.
Police guard automobiles that drove into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024. Ecuadorian police officers forcibly broke into the embassy the place former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas was holed up, simply hours after the Mexican authorities had granted him political asylum. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
A car drives in reverse into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry and Ecuador’s Ministry of the Interior didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.The Mexican Embassy in Quito remained underneath heavy police guard late Friday.A day earlier, tensions between the 2 international locations escalated after Mexico’s president made statements that Ecuador thought of “very unfortunate” about last year’s election, received by Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.In response, the Ecuadorian authorities declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata.___Follow AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america