QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The global condemnation of Ecuador’s government for its decision to break into the Mexican Embassy snowballed Sunday with more presidents and other leaders expressing disapproval, shock and dismay.
The criticism came as Mexico’s ambassador and other personnel arrived in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon after departing Ecuador’s capital, Quito, on a commercial flight.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador immediately after Friday’s raid, which international law experts, presidents and diplomats have deemed a violation of long-established international accords.
We energetically condemn it.” Police broke through the external doors of the embassy to arrest Jorge Glas, a former vice president who had been residing there since December.
Bárcena said Mexico plans to challenge the raid on Monday at the World Court in The Hague.
She added that 18 countries in Latin America, 20 in Europe and the Organization of American States have backed Mexico.
The Spanish foreign ministry in a statement Sunday said, “The entry by force into the Embassy of Mexico in Quito constitutes a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Sommerfeld said “it is not legal to grant asylum to people convicted of common crimes and by competent courts.” Noboa became Ecuador’s president last year as the nation battled unprecedented crime tied to drug trafficking.
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The international community’s censure of Ecuador’s government for its choice to storm the Mexican Embassy grew on Sunday, as additional presidents and dignitaries voiced their dismay, shock, and disapproval.
The critique was made as the ambassador of Mexico and other officials touched down in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon, having flown commercially from Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Following the raid on Friday, which international law experts, presidents, and diplomats have determined to be a violation of long-standing international agreements, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador immediately severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador.
The ambassadors who were returning were thanked by Mexico’s secretary of foreign relations, Alicia Bárcena, “for defending our embassy in Quito even at the risk of their own physical well-being.”. “.
She said on Sunday, referring to the late dictator Augusto Pinochet of Chile, that “not even the dictator Pinochet had dared to enter the Mexican embassy in Chile.”. “They broke in without permission and attacked the diplomats physically.”. We vehemently denounce it. “.
Former vice president Jorge Glas had been living at the embassy since December when police broke through the exterior doors. After receiving a corruption indictment, he had applied for asylum.
According to Bárcena, Mexico intends to contest the raid on Monday at The Hague’s World Court. She continued by saying that Mexico has the support of 18 nations in Latin America, 20 in Europe, and the Organization of American States.
A statement released on Sunday by the Spanish foreign ministry stated, “The entry of Mexico by force into the Mexican Embassy in Quito constitutes a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”. We demand that Mexico and Ecuador, who are friendly nations with Spain and other Ibero-American nations, uphold international law and live in harmony. “.
A day prior, Ecuador and Mexico were among the members of the Organization of American States (OAS) that were reminded in a statement not to “use domestic legal norms as an excuse for not adhering to their external commitments.”. “.
You. S. The inviolability of diplomatic missions is a legal requirement that host nations uphold, and Secretary of State Matthew Miller stated as much. The United States denounces any transgression of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. He urged the two nations to put their disagreements behind them.
According to the Vienna Treaties, diplomatic properties are “inviolable” foreign territory, and law enforcement agencies from the host nation are not permitted to enter without the ambassador’s consent. Asylum seekers have spent days or years living in embassies across the globe. Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was housed for seven years in Ecuador’s London embassy because British police were unable to enter and arrest him.
Glas is being held at a maximum-security prison in the port city of Guayaquil after being removed from the attorney general’s office in Quito on Saturday.
Officers broke into Glas’s room at the Mexican embassy, and when they tried to put his hands behind his back, he resisted, according to Glas’ attorney, Sonia Vera, who spoke to The Associated Press. She said that after he “couldn’t walk,” the officers “dragged him out after knocking him to the floor, kicking him in the head, in the spine, in the legs, and in the hands.”. “.
Vera stated on Sunday that Glas’s defense team had not been permitted to speak with him since his apprehension.
Following a devastating earthquake in 2016 that claimed hundreds of lives, authorities are looking into allegations of irregularities during Glas’s leadership of reconstruction efforts. In two different bribery and corruption cases, he was previously found guilty.
Up until Sunday, President Daniel Noboa had not made any public remarks regarding the raid. Following the conclusion of all diplomatic channels with Mexico and taking into account Glas’ “imminent flight risk,” Noboa decided to enter the embassy, as reported by Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld to reporters on Saturday.
Glas was granted asylum by Mexico just hours before the raid. Sommerfeld declared, “It is illegal to grant asylum to individuals who have been found guilty of common crimes by competent courts. “.
As the country struggled with unprecedented drug-related crime last year, Noboa was elected president of Ecuador. Declaring 20 drug-trafficking gangs to be terrorist organizations that the military was authorized to “neutralize” in accordance with international humanitarian law, he declared the nation to be engaged in a “internal armed conflict” in January.
Being elected solely to complete the term of outgoing President Guillermo Lasso, Noboa’s term ends in 2025.
In addition to being “extremely embarrassing” for Ecuador, María Dolores Miño, director of the independent Law and Justice Observatory and law professor at the International University of Ecuador, stated that the raid could have serious consequences.
“It is important to recognize the extent and influence of a political penalty,” Miño stated. Although the Mexico-led World Court process will take time, she continued, “there will come a time when we have that sentence, which will include economic reparations that will have to be paid with Ecuadorians’ money.”
. “.
