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on Friday, the Mexican government granted political asylum to Jorge Glas, a former Ecuadorian vice president who had been taking refuge at the Mexican embassy in Quito since December last year. Glas is accused of corruption charges related to the Lava Jato (car wash) scandal implicating the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, and has already served five years in prison. He was released on appeal in 2022 but the political and judicial authorities want him back in jail.
In response to Mexico’s announcement, Daniel Noboa’s government in Quito declared the Mexican ambassador persona non-grata and surrounded the Mexican embassy with hundreds of soldiers and police officers. In the early hours of Saturday (April 6) morning, those soldiers and police officers attacked the embassy in Quito, which is equivalent to an act of war, detaining (or as some are saying, kidnapping) Glas while using force against members of Mexico’s diplomatic staff. Mexican diplomat Roberto Canseco was visibly shaken after being pushed to the ground by Ecuador’s police as they left the Mexican embassy:
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Mexico responded to this “flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention” by severing diplomatic relations with Ecuador, which could, if extended to the commercial space, have unpleasant consequences for the Andean nation’s recession-hit, IMF-dependent economy. Mexico´s Andrés Manuel Lopéz Obrador government is also threatening to take the case to the International Court of Justice.
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