(Reuters) – Mexico abruptly suspended bilateral relations with Ecuador in an escalating diplomatic dispute, after Ecuador’s police pressured their means into Mexico’s Quito embassy to arrest a former vice chairman on graft fees.
WHY DID ECUADOR ENTER MEXICO’S EMBASSY?
Closely-armed and balaclava-clad police broke into Mexico’s embassy late on Friday evening to arrest Jorge Glas, Ecuador’s former leftist vice chairman, who is needed on graft fees.
Glas has been residing within the embassy since December, after requesting asylum within the North American nation, which Mexico solely granted on Friday.
Ecuador, which requested Mexico’s permission to enter the embassy at first of March to detain Glas, contends the asylum supply was unlawful, as a result of underneath worldwide regulation, folks dealing with fees shouldn’t be granted asylum.
Mexico, whose President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador instantly suspended relations with Ecuador after the raid, has stated it intently studied Glas’ case.
The arrest capped every week of rising tensions between the 2 Latin American international locations, after Quito declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata, citing “unlucky” feedback by leftist Lopez Obrador.
The Mexican president had in contrast election-related violence within the two international locations, alleging the homicide of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio final yr was unfairly tied to the leftist candidate within the race, who subsequently misplaced. Lopez Obrador additional blamed what he stated was corrupt media for what he described as election manipulation.
The media have been a frequent goal of Lopez Obrador’s ire throughout his practically six years in workplace.
WHO IS JORGE GLAS AND WHAT CHARGES IS HE FACING?
Glas, who was vice chairman throughout the federal government of Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017, has been convicted twice in corruption instances and is now dealing with recent fees of misuse of public assets.
He was first sentenced to 6 years in late 2017 after a courtroom discovered him responsible of taking bribes from Brazilian development firm Odebrecht in return for handing the scandal-choked agency state contracts.
Glas, 54, was convicted once more in 2020 of utilizing cash from contractors to fund campaigns for Correa’s political motion and given an eight-year sentence.
Correa – who has lived in Belgium since he left workplace – was convicted in the identical case.
Each males have lengthy alleged the fees are politically-motivated, an accusation prosecutors have denied.
Glas served greater than 4 years in jail earlier than being launched in 2022, solely to be jailed once more the identical yr, after a courtroom dominated he wanted to serve the rest of his sentences, although his attorneys had requested he serve them concurrently and profit from parole.
He was final launched in November 2022, however Glas faces new fees of misusing funds collected to help reconstruction of coastal Manabi province after a devastating 2016 earthquake.
His attorneys in December appealed a decide’s determination to ship him again to jail, arguing his life could possibly be in peril, nevertheless it was denied.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE REGIONAL REACTION?
On Saturday, governments throughout the political spectrum in Latin America – together with Brazil and Colombia on the left, and Argentina and Uruguay on the appropriate – sharply criticized the arrest of Glas.
Brazil’s authorities condemned Ecuador’s transfer as a “clear violation” of worldwide norms prohibiting such a raid on a international embassy, whereas Argentina referred to as for compliance with the Vienna Conference on diplomatic relations.
WHAT NEXT?
The Mexican international ministry stated it should file a grievance with the United Nation’s Worldwide Court docket of Justice, whereas the federal government of leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated it should search human rights protections for Glas from the Inter-American Fee on Human Rights, saying his proper to asylum was “barbarously violated.”
The Washington-based Group of American States stated a session of the physique’s everlasting council might be convened to debate the necessity for strict compliance with worldwide treaties.
