Security forces stormed the Mexican embassy arresting former Ecuadoran vice president Jorge Glas who was taking refuge there.
Mexico suspended relations with Ecuador after security officials there raided its embassy late Friday night.
They arrested former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been holed up at the Mexican embassy in Ecuador’s capital Quito since December.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador instructed the country’s foreign minister to cut diplomatic ties with Ecuador, calling the raid “a flagrant violation of international law and of Mexico’s sovereignty.”
Obrador said Glas was “a refugee and seeking asylum due to the persecution and harassment he is facing.”
The Ecuadorian presidency confirmed Glas’ arrest in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
“No criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person,” the presidency said, stressing that Glas, convicted twice for corruption, “has been convicted with an enforceable sentence and had an arrest warrant issued by the competent authorities.”
Ecuador and Mexico’s diplomatic spat worsened fast
Mexican Ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke was declared “persona non grata” in Ecuador on Thursday after Mexican President Lopez Obrador appeared to criticize Ecuador’s recent elections, which President Daniel Noboa won.
Hours before the raid on Friday, Mexico granted asylum to Ecuador’s former vice president, Jorge Glas, who has been holed up in Mexico’s embassy in Quito since late last year after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry was planning to request safe passage for him to leave Ecuador.
Ecuadorian authorities had meanwhile sought Mexico’s permission to enter its embassy and arrest the former president.
Glas was sentenced in 2017 to six years in prison after he was found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht in exchange for granting it government contracts.
He served time for the conviction and was released from prison in November 2022, only to face another arrest warrant for allegedly diverting funds intended for reconstruction efforts following a 2015 devastating earthquake.
The former vice president, who had served under leftist Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017, argues he is being persecuted by the attorney general’s office.
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