A Diplomatic Crisis and a Wave of International Denial After a Police Raid on the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador – Liberation

The ambassador departs, and his entourage with him. Mexican embassy staff are leaving Ecuador, two days after a police raid on Mexico's diplomatic mission in Quito sparked international outrage. Eighteen people, diplomats and their family members, left for Mexico on a commercial flight this Sunday, April 7, the Mexican Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday. Among them was Ambassador Rahul Serur – declared “Persona non grata» Ecuador – and head of the diplomatic mission, Roberto Canseco. All employees went to airport”Allies and allies» Who proposedtake care“their”Honesty», Details of the Ministry.

On Friday, Ecuadorean police stormed the Mexican embassy and arrested former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Claus, who was accused of corruption and was holed up there. An unprecedented incursion into the world in recent history, it has been condemned by left-wing governments in Latin America, from Brazil to Venezuela to Chile, and even by ultraliberal President Javier Millay's Argentina. Most of them cited the Vienna Convention, which guarantees the inviolability of embassies.

“A flagrant violation of international law”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday:warning» believed to be transgressing diplomatic bounds, by raiding “Affects the pursuit of normal international relations», according to its spokesperson. Honduran President Xiomara Castro, who is interim head of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), called an emergency meeting on Monday. America – Condemns”Any violation of the Vienna Convention» – Promoted Mexico and Ecuador “To settle their disputes according to international standards“, according to a State Department spokesperson.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador condemned the attack “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, the executive announced the immediate severing of diplomatic ties with Ecuador, followed by Nicaragua on Saturday. In Mexico City on Saturday, tensions ran high and about fifty people demonstrated in front of the Ecuadorian embassy, ​​””Fascist“. As for the Mexican embassy in Quito, it was cordoned off by police on Saturday. The national flag was removed from the flagpole in the building's courtyard.

Quito rebuked the interruption

Jorge Glass, 54, was transferred to a high-security prison in Guayaquil in southwestern Ecuador, government sources said. Mexico granted him asylum on Friday, but he has been sheltering in the consulate since December 17. As Quito had described“illegal” Mexican decision, condemnation “Abuse of Immunities and Privileges” given to the embassy and interferes in its internal affairs. The asylum was granted a day after Ecuador decided to expel Mexico's ambassador to Quito following criticism by the Mexican president of holding Ecuador's 2023 presidential election.

George Klaus, 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 an earthquake in 2016. In another case, he was convicted. In 2017, he was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption in a major scandal involving the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. He was released last November.

Update The Mexican crew effectively departed from Ecuador at 5:40pm on Sunday, April 7.