Alberto Suarez / AFP
Ecuadorean police attempt to enter the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5, 2024.
International – full diplomatic conflict. Relations between Mexico and Ecuador have been strained for days, leading Mexican diplomatic staff to leave Quito this Sunday, April 7. The HuffPost Explains to you what happened.
It all started last Wednesday with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's criticism of Ecuador's holding of 2023 presidential elections. Nicknamed “AMLO,” he accused Ecuadorian authorities of exploiting the assassination of opposition candidate Fernando Villavicencio during the campaign. , August 9, 2023, to elect liberal Daniel Noboa over leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez.
On Thursday, the Ecuadorian government announced the expulsion of Mexico's ambassador to Quito, Raquel Serur. The next day, Mexico granted asylum to Jorge Glass, who had been the subject of an arrest warrant on corruption charges and had been in its embassy since December 17.
“A flagrant violation of international law”
George Klaus, who was vice president between 2013 and 2017 under former Socialist President Rafael Correa (2007-2017), was accused of embezzling public funds to rebuild coastal cities after a 2016 earthquake.“illegal”.
In this context, the police officers who entered the Mexican embassy to arrest the former vice president were not the latest precedent in the world to break into an embassy enclosure. AMLO condemns “ “a flagrant violation of international law and Mexico's sovereignty.”He also said that the case will be taken to the International Court of Justice.
In the process, Mexico announced it was cutting diplomatic ties with Ecuador, followed by Nicaragua on Saturday. Mexican diplomatic staff, including the ambassador and head of the diplomatic mission, left Ecuador on Sunday.
Jorge Glass, already sentenced to six years in prison in 2017, was transferred on Saturday to a high-security prison in Guayaquil (southwest of Ecuador).
The test was condemned by the international community
The raid was condemned by leftist governments across Latin America, from Brazil to Venezuela and Chile, as well as ultraliberal President Javier Mili's Argentina and the Organization of American States, the European Union and Spain.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: Warning” By testing “ affect the pursuit of normal international relations”According to its spokesperson.
America – Condemns” Any violation of the Vienna Convention » – Mexico and Ecuador are promoted” to settle their disputes in accordance with international law”. The Vienna Convention of 1961 provides that embassies and consulates “ Inviolable ».
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