Ecuadorean authorities apprehended a former Vice President, Jorge Glas, on Friday evening, grabbing him from the Mexican embassy and causing Mexico to halt bilateral relations with the country.
Glas, who has been convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito after he sought political asylum in December, which Mexico had granted earlier on Friday.
The Mexican President, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had revealed on X that police officials had forcefully entered Mexico’s embassy in Quito before making the arrest.
Glas, had been vice president under the leftist Ecuadorean government of Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017.
This arrest completes a week of increasing tensions between Mexico and Ecuador, which had on Thursday, declared Mexico’s ambassador in Quito persona non grata, citing “unfortunate” comments from the leftist President Lopez Obrador.
Ecuador had contended that Mexico’s asylum offer was illegal. Their presidency had released a statement, accusing Mexico of “abusing the immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission that housed the former vice president” as well as “granting diplomatic asylum contrary to the conventional legal framework.”
Lopez Obrador had remarked that he had instructed Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Barcena to halt diplomatic ties with Ecuador, as it had regarded the arrest as an “authoritarian” act and a violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty.
Barcena had announced the “immediate” suspension of diplomatic ties with the South American nation not long after that on X.
Ecuadorean authorities had sought permission from Mexico to gain access into the embassy and arrest Glas, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 after being found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding it government contracts.
