Argentina’s Foreign Ministry condemned Ecuador’s Friday night raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas. Other Latin American countries — including Brazil and Colombia on the left and Uruguay on the right — also rallied around Mexico.

Mexican authorities had granted Glas asylum, but the government of Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa had argued the protection was illegal because of the corruption charges the left-wing politician was facing. Still, under international law, embassies are considered the sovereign territory of the country they represent.

In a brief communiqué, the Argentine foreign ministry joined the countries of the region in condemning “what happened last night at the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador.” The press release also mentioned that Argentina is part of the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, which has recently granted this status to Venezuelan political leaders and is awaiting the issuance of the corresponding safe-conducts.

The Argentine government called for “full compliance with the provisions of [the convention], and with the obligations arising from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

Broad condemnation

Friday’s raid triggered a suspension of relations with Quito by Mexico City, with the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador blasting the unusual diplomatic incursion and arrest as an “authoritarian” act as well as a breach of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty.

Glas could be seen on video circulating on social media being taken by police convoy to the airport in the capital, Quito, flanked by heavily armed soldiers. He then boarded a plane en route to a jail in Guayaquil, the Andean nation’s largest city.

Brazil’s government condemned Ecuador’s move as a “clear violation” of international norms prohibiting such a raid on a foreign embassy. Ecuador’s move against the embassy “must be subject to strong repudiation, whatever the justification for its implementation,” according to a statement from Brazil’s foreign ministry, which stressed Brasilia’s solidarity with Mexico.

In an interview with local broadcaster Milenio on Saturday morning, Mexico’s top diplomat Alicia Barcena, expressed shock at Ecuador’s incursion into the country’s embassy, located in Quito’s financial district, adding that some embassy personnel were injured in the raid. She added that Glas was granted asylum after an exhaustive analysis of the circumstances surrounding the accusations he faces.

The Mexican foreign ministry has announced it will file a complaint with the United Nation’s International Court of Justice for “grave violations of international law.”

Also on Saturday, the Washington-based Organization of American States issued a call for dialogue to resolve the escalating dispute between Ecuador and Mexico, adding in a statement that a session of the body’s permanent council will be convened to discuss the need for “strict compliance with international treaties, including those that guarantee the right to asylum.”

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, meanwhile, argued in a post on X that Latin America “must keep alive the precepts of international law in the midst of the barbarism that is advancing in the world.” Petro’s government noted it will seek human rights legal protections for the now-detained Glas, according to a separate statement.

Glas, convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, a request Mexico granted on Friday.

Ecuadorean authorities had unsuccessfully sought permission from Mexico to enter the embassy and arrest Glas.

In 2017, Glas, the former second-in-command to ex-President Rafael Correa, also a leftist, was sentenced to six years in prison after he was found guilty of taking bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding it government contracts.

As he faced a fresh arrest warrant on separate graft charges, Glas has claimed he is the victim of political persecution, a charge Ecuador’s government has denied.

Reuters/Herald