Ecuadorean authorities apprehended former Vice President Jorge Glas on Friday night, removing him from the Mexican embassy and leading Mexico to halt bilateral relations.
Glas, aged 54, who had been convicted of corruption twice, had been staying in the embassy in Quito since requesting political asylum in December. Mexico had granted his asylum request earlier on the same day.
According to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s post on X, police forcefully entered Mexico’s embassy in Quito before making the arrest.
The Ecuadorean president’s office confirmed the arrest of Glas, who served as vice president during Rafael Correa’s leftist government from 2013 to 2017.
International lawyer Sonia Vera, representing Glas, mentioned that they were seeking assistance on an inter-American level from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, as well as the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly.
A significant military presence was observed at the magistrates court in the Andean capital, where the former vice president was taken.
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The arrest concluded a week of escalating tensions between Mexico and Ecuador, with Ecuador declaring Mexico’s ambassador in Quito persona non grata on Thursday due to “unfortunate” remarks from President Lopez Obrador.
Ecuador argued that Mexico’s asylum offer was in violation of the law.
In response, Ecuador’s presidency accused Mexico of misusing the diplomatic immunity granted to the embassy housing the former vice president and providing diplomatic asylum against established legal norms.
Lopez Obrador condemned the arrest as an “authoritarian” act and a breach of international law and Mexican sovereignty, instructing Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena to sever diplomatic ties with Ecuador.
Barcena promptly announced the suspension of diplomatic relations with the South American nation and confirmed that embassy personnel would be returning to Mexico.
Ecuadorean authorities had requested Mexico’s permission to enter the embassy to apprehend Glas, who had been sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 for accepting bribes from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company, in exchange for government contracts.
Glas, facing another corruption case with a pending arrest warrant, asserted that he was being targeted due to his political affiliation, a claim refuted by Ecuador’s government.
Ecuador officials were incensed by Lopez Obrador’s remarks regarding the violent elections in the country last year, which included the assassination of a presidential candidate.
Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa, who assumed office late last year, confronted escalating conflicts with drug cartels, leading to the declaration of a nationwide state of emergency earlier this year, which was extended last month.
