Leaders from other countries are upset with Ecuador because the police in the capital city entered the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former vice president who had been given permission to stay there for political reasons.
The raid on Friday made the Mexican President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and his government break off relations with Ecuador. They also plan to challenge the move at the World Court in The Hague.
The police forced their way into the embassy in Quito to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been living there since December. He asked for protection because he was accused of doing something wrong, and he got it a few hours ago.
Many people were very upset about the break-in.
The Organization of American States told its members not to use their own country’s laws as an excuse to not follow their international duties. This applies to countries like Ecuador and Mexico.
The Spanish government said on Sunday that breaking into the Mexican Embassy in Quito is against the rules for diplomatic relations. We want Mexico and Ecuador to follow international laws and get along with each other. They are like brothers to Spain and are part of the Ibero-American community.
Matthew Miller, who speaks for the US State Department, said that the United States doesn’t like it when the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is broken. It’s important for countries to follow the law and not interfere with diplomatic missions. He wants both countries to figure out their problems.
Honduran President Xiomara Castro said the raid was a very bad thing for the world. It broke the rules of Mexico and international law because it didn’t respect the right to asylum.
Embassies are like another country and the police of the host country can’t go in without the ambassador’s permission. People who need help and protection have stayed at embassies in different countries for different lengths of time. For example, Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, lived at the embassy of Ecuador in London for seven years because British police couldn’t arrest him there.
Alicia Bárcena, who works for Mexico’s government, wrote on the app X that some diplomats got hurt during the break-in.
Bárcena said Mexico will go to the International Court of Justice to show that Ecuador broke international laws. She also called back Mexican diplomats.
“Glas goes to jail. ”
On Saturday, Glas was moved from the attorney general’s office in Quito to a high-security prison in the port city of Guayaquil, where he will stay in custody. The crowd cheered “strength” as the prosecutor left with police and military cars.
Sonia Vera, a lawyer for Glas, said that the police entered his room and he fought back when they tried to make him put his hands behind his back. She said the police pushed him down and kicked him in different parts of his body, and when he couldn’t walk, they dragged him away.
Vera said the defense team couldn’t talk to Glas when he was at the prosecutor’s office, and now they are trying to file a petition to have him released.
Officials are looking into Glas for possible problems during his handling of rebuilding efforts after a big earthquake in 2016 that caused the deaths of many people. He was found guilty of taking bribes and being dishonest in other situations.
Ecuador’s Foreign Minister, Gabriela Sommerfeld, said on Saturday that President Daniel Noboa decided to go into the embassy because they thought Vice President Glas might try to run away, and they had already tried talking with Mexico a lot.
Mexico said yes to letting Glas stay there to be safe, just hours before the raid happened. Sommerfeld said that people who have been found guilty of regular crimes and by a proper court cannot be given asylum.
NoBoa is running for re-election.
Noboa became the president of Ecuador last year while the country was dealing with a lot of crime connected to drugs. He said the country was in a war in January and called 20 drug gangs terrorist groups. He authorized the military to stop them according to international laws.
Will Freeman, who knows a lot about Latin American studies, said sending police to Mexico’s embassy makes people worried about what Noboa is willing to do to get elected again. His time in office will finish in 2025 because he was chosen to complete the term of former President Guillermo Lasso.
“I hope Noboa doesn’t start to act like Bukele,” Freeman said. Bukele, the president of El Salvador, has been criticized for his strict crime policies by human rights groups. “In other words, he is willing to break the rules to become more popular before the election. ”
Freeman said that if Glas was using diplomatic protection incorrectly, it’s a different problem from sending police to the embassy.
“He said we often see politicians in Latin America using embassies and foreign countries to avoid being held accountable, instead of running away from being prosecuted. ”
The police are protecting the Mexican Embassy in Quito because there has been a lot of tension between Mexico and Ecuador.
Vera’s lawyer, Glasâ, said she’s worried something bad might happen to him in jail because lots of people have died in riots there. Some people who were in jail have died, including some people who are suspected of killing a candidate for president last year.
“Vera said that in Ecuador, going to jail is like being sentenced to death. ” “We believe that President Daniel Noboa Azín is responsible for the safety and well-being of Jorge Glas. “