Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police storm its embassy to arrest politician

MSN via AP ^ | 04/06/2024 | REGINA GARCIA CANO and GABRIELA MOLINA,

[SeekAndFind]

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Mexico's government severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president, an extraordinary use of force that shocked and mystified regional leaders and diplomats.

Ecuadorian police late Friday broke through the external doors of the embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been residing there since December. Glas sought political asylum at the embassy after being indicted on corruption charges.

The raid prompted Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to announce the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Ecuador on Friday evening, while his government's foreign relations secretary said the move will be challenged at the World Court in The Hague.

“This is not possible. It cannot be. This is crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular section in Quito, told local press while standing outside the embassy right after the raid. “I am very worried because they could kill him. There is no basis to do this. This is totally outside the norm.”

On Saturday, Glas was taken from the attorney general’s office in Quito to the port city of Guayaquil, where he will remain in custody at a maximum-security prison. People who had gathered outside the prosecutor’s office yelled “strength” as he left with a convoy of police and military vehicles.

Glas' attorney, Sonia Vera, told The Associated Press that officers broke into his room and he resisted when they attempted to put his hands behind his back. She said the officers then “knocked him to the floor, kicked him in the head, in the spine, in the legs, the hands,” and when he “couldn’t walk, they dragged him out.”

[SeekAndFind]

Vera said the defense team was not allowed to speak with Glas while he was at the prosecutor's office, and it is now working to file a habeas corpus petition.

Authorities are investigating Glas over alleged irregularities during his management of reconstruction efforts following a powerful earthquake in 2016 that killed hundreds of people. He was convicted on bribery and corruption charges in other cases.

The office of Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa defended the raid in a statement, saying “Ecuador is a sovereign nation" that will not “allow any criminal to stay free.” López Obrador fired back, calling Glas' detention an “authoritarian act” and “a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico.”

[Fungi]

No harm. Ecuador has its currency pegged on the US dollar, rather it has its currency as the US dollar. It supposedly is a republic, but that is doubtful. They are dependent on export of bananas, the world's largest producer. Mexico is the largest US trade partner. They will not miss Ecuador. Mexico is only one of latin Americas problem children, next to all the rest.

[metmom]

Does this mean that Mexico will finally secure it’s southern border?

[Pocketdoor]

Interesting post. Thank you. From not seeing Right Wing in it, I presume that it is a liberal grifter that they are capturing.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Corrupt or not. You don’t send cops into a foreign embassy.

[Karl Spooner]

You don’t send cops into a foreign embassy.

The US and Israel just sends the bombs in..

[ArcadeQuarters]

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Some country set a very bad precedent that may come back to haunt all embassies and consulates.

[smokingfrog]

Why is Mexico protecting a corrupt politician? He’s been sentenced to prison time and not allowed to leave the country.

[ArcadeQuarters]

Just think of the police as illegal immigrants. There shouldn’t be a problem.

[Paul R.]

Was Glas engaged in activities that break the rules of warfare? That’s what determines whether you get protections or not.

In Glas’ case, I’m guessing “no”.

In the case of the Quds generals, the answer is clearly “yes”.

[Zhang Fei]

[The US and Israel just sends the bombs in..]

---

The attack on the Chinese embassy in Belgrade wasn’t on US soil. The US has to protect foreign embassies on its own soil. It doesn’t have to protect foreign embassies on someone else’s soil. Similarly, Israel doesn’t have diplomatic relations with Iran, and is definitely not required to protect Iranian embassies on someone else’s territory. In fact, to hit foreign assets involved in acts of war against Israel isn’t just necessary - it’s practically a mitzvah.

[Zhang Fei]

[Some country set a very bad precedent that may come back to haunt all embassies and consulates.]

---

You will find that only the West holds to any type of convention, and in any war that involves serious casualties, reciprocity eventually becomes the principal rule.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Iran?

[VAFreedom]

well, there goes my source of juicy roasted guinea pigs from Ecuador.

[Wilderness Conservative]

Embassies are obsolete. Close them all and close the border with Mexico. Advise all Americans they travel to Mexico at their own risk.

[bert]

Glas is an agent of the Mexican drug cartels. He almost certainly was involved surreptitiously in cocaine trafficking

[libertylover]

Are we far behind?

[bobbo666]

If in hot pursuit of cowardly murderers like Hamas, good on them. Every embassy is supposed to protect entry. Any that would see a pack of rabid dogs (i.e., like anyone in Hamas) running towards the open door and not stop them deserves whatever it gets.