QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Friday night that his country would sever diplomatic relations with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito.
The announcement came after Ecuadorian police forcefully entered the Mexican embassy in Quito and detained former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Grasz, who was seeking political asylum, amid deepening diplomatic rifts between the two countries. .
Mr. Glass, perhaps Ecuador's most wanted man, faces investigations into corruption, bribery and other charges.
On Friday, April 5, 2024, police attempted to break into the Mexican Embassy in Quito, Ecuador after the Mexican government granted asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had taken refuge there. Ta. Police then forcibly entered the embassy through a different entrance. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Police broke down the outer door of Mexico's diplomatic headquarters in Ecuador's capital and entered the main patio.
“Ecuador is a sovereign nation and will not allow any criminals to remain free,” Ecuador's president said in a statement Friday night.
President López Obrador called Gras's detention an “authoritarian act” and a “grave violation of international law and Mexico's sovereignty.”
Mexico's Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena said the incident violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, adding that a number of diplomats were injured in the incident.
Experts overseeing the arrest said the act was a brazen violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and was likely to drive a wedge between the Mexican and Ecuadorian governments.
“That can't happen, it can't happen, it's crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consulate in Quito, said outside the embassy.
Asked about former Vice President Glass' situation and whether he had been arrested by official forces, he said: There is no basis for doing this, and this is completely outside the norm. ”
Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ecuador's Ministry of Interior did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
The Mexican embassy in Quito remained under heavy police security until late Friday.
Tensions between the two countries escalated the day before after Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador said that Ecuador considered the last election won by Ecuadorian President Daniel Novoa “very disappointing.” It has increased.
In response, the Ecuadorian government Mexican ambassador declares persona non grata.
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