Ecuador committed the incursion to arrest its former vice president.
Latin American heads of state criticized the Ecuador government’s decision to enter the Mexican Embassy in its territory and arrest an asylum seeker—violating international protocols that protect embassies from such incursions.
On April 5, police
broke into the Mexican Embassy in
Quito and arrested former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought asylum and was staying there. Mr. Glas was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 for a corruption case. He also has a preventive warrant in another case. Mr. Glas claims that he’s being politically persecuted by the Ecuadorian government, a charge that the administration denies. He had requested political asylum at the Mexican Embassy in December 2023, and it was granted on April 5.
Following the break-in, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador slammed the move. “Alicia Barcena, our Secretary of Foreign Affairs, has just informed me that police from Ecuador forcibly entered our embassy and detained the former vice president of that country who was a refugee and processing asylum due to the persecution and harassment he faces,” Mr. Obrador
said in an April 6 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“This is a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico, which is why I have instructed our chancellor to issue a statement regarding this authoritarian act, proceed legally, and immediately declare the suspension of diplomatic relations with the government of Ecuador.”
Ms. Barcena
confirmed that the president’s orders have been carried out, with Mexico announcing the “immediate breaking of diplomatic relations with Ecuador.”
Ecuador justified its actions
by stating that the embassy “abused the immunities and privileges” by housing its former vice president. Mexico’s granting of diplomatic asylum to Mr. Glas was “contrary to the conventional legal framework,” Ecuador said in a statement.
However, Ecuador’s justification was dismissed by Latin American leaders, who denounced the country for breaking international protocols.
Ecuador’s behavior “constitutes a clear violation of the American Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations which, in article 22, provides that the locations of a diplomatic mission are inviolable and can be accessed by agents of the receiving State only with the consent of the Head of Mission,” Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said in a statement.
“The measure carried out by the Ecuadorian government constitutes a serious precedent, and must be subject to strong repudiation, whatever the justification for its implementation. The Brazilian government finally expresses its solidarity with the Mexican government.”
Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font
expressed “solidarity” with Mexico, calling Ecuador’s embassy break-in an “unacceptable violation” of Mexican sovereignty.
Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, president of Honduras,
said the “kidnapping” of Mr. Glas by Ecuador constitutes “an intolerable act for the international community, given that it ignores the historical and fundamental right to asylum.”
Violating Embassy Conventions
The American Convention on Diplomatic Asylum is an
agreement between member states of the Organization of American States (OAS). Members of OAS include both Ecuador and Mexico.
The treaty makes it clear that
asylum granted in “legations” to people sought for political reasons or offenses “shall be respected by the territorial State.”
Legation refers to “any seat of a regular diplomatic mission, the residence of chiefs of mission, and the premises provided by them for the dwelling places of asylees.”
Following the events in Ecuador, the OAS issued a
statement expressing “solidarity with those who were victims of the inappropriate actions that affected the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador.”
OAS pointed out that all member states have to strictly abide by the rules of the organization’s charter, which agrees with the “inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and consular offices.”
The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
states that the premises of diplomatic missions “shall be inviolable.” The convention prohibits agents from the home state from entering embassies of other nations located in their territory “except with the consent of the head of the mission.”
The Ecuadorian government’s justification for its Mexican Embassy break-in marks a stark about-face from about a decade ago, when it had vehemently opposed the violation of embassy conventions during a
diplomatic tussle that it had with the UK.
In 2012, Ecuador’s embassy granted asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The UK had threatened to enter the embassy to arrest Mr. Assange, insisting that it wouldn’t allow the Wikileaks founder to leave the country.
At the time, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said that “it would be suicide for the UK to enter the Ecuadorian Embassy. It will be a bad precedent. It would allow UK embassies to be violated around the world.”
Mr. Glas was the vice president under the Correa administration between 2013 and 2017.
Meanwhile, Washington has criticized Ecuador’s actions.
“The United States condemns any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and takes very seriously the obligation of host countries under international law to respect the inviolability of diplomatic missions,” the U.S. Department of State
said in a statement.
“Mexico and Ecuador are crucial partners of the United States, and we place a high value on our relations with both countries. We encourage the two countries to resolve their differences in accord with international norms.”
