By Alessandra Valencia
QUITO (Reuters) – Latin American governments, including Brazil, one of the region’s most important countries, rallied in Mexico on Saturday after its embassy in Ecuador was attacked to arrest a controversial politician who had been granted asylum from the Mexican authorities.
The kidnapping on Friday evening of Jorge Glas, a former vice president of Ecuador convicted twice on corruption charges, sparked outrage in Mexico City, which suspended relations with Quito.
Glas, 54, who had a preventive arrest warrant in another corruption case, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since requesting political asylum in December, a request that Mexico granted last Friday.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador criticized the unusual diplomatic raid and arrest as an “authoritarian” act and a violation of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty.
Under international law, embassies are considered the sovereign territory of the country they represent.
The government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa argued that asylum protection in Mexico was illegal due to Glas’ corruption allegations.
Sonia Vera, Glas’s international lawyer, said by phone Saturday that her team is asking for help at the inter-American level from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as the Security Council Tribunal and Assembly United Nations General.
Glas, who served as vice president under Rafael Correa’s leftist government between 2013 and 2017, has complained of being persecuted for his political affiliation, which Ecuador’s government denies.
Video circulating on social media shows him being taken by a police convoy to Quito airport, flanked by heavily armed soldiers. He then boarded a plane bound for prison in Guayaquil, the Andean nation’s largest city.
On Saturday, governments across Latin America’s political spectrum – including Brazil and Colombia on the left, and Argentina and Uruguay on the right – sharply criticized the embassy storming to arrest Glas.
Photos on social media, including one posted by the Cuban foreign minister, showed what appeared to be the embassy wall scaled by armed police or soldiers. Reuters could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the photos.
The Brazilian government condemned Ecuador’s move as a “clear violation” of international rules banning such a raid on a foreign embassy.
Ecuador’s action against the embassy “must be strongly repudiated, whatever the justification for its implementation,” according to a statement from Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, which underlined Brasilia’s solidarity with Mexico.
‘SERIOUS VIOLATIONS’
In an interview with local broadcaster Milenio on Saturday morning, Mexico’s top diplomat, Alicia Barcena, expressed shock at Ecuador’s incursion into the country’s embassy, located in Quito’s financial district, adding that some staff of the embassy were injured in the raid.
He added that Glas was granted asylum after a thorough analysis of the circumstances surrounding the charges he faces.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry announced it will file a complaint with the United Nations International Court of Justice for “serious violations of international law.”
The Washington-based Organization of American States on Saturday called for dialogue to resolve the growing dispute between the two countries, adding in a statement that a session of the body’s permanent council would be convened to discuss the need for “a rigorous compliance with international standards”. treaties, including those guaranteeing the right to asylum.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro argued in a post on
Petro’s government has stressed that it will seek legal human rights protections for Glas, now detained, according to a separate statement.
Ecuadorian authorities had unsuccessfully asked Mexico for permission to enter the embassy and arrest Glas.
In 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison after being found guilty of accepting bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding government contracts.
He was convicted again in 2020 of using contractors’ money to finance campaigns for Correa’s political movement and sentenced to eight years.