Embassy attack: Mexico breaks relations with Ecuador

Ecuadorean authorities arrested former Vice President Jorge Glas on Friday evening, seizing him from the Mexican embassy and prompting Mexico to suspend bilateral relations. Glas, 54, convicted twice of corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, a request Mexico granted earlier on Friday. Police forcefully entered Mexico’s embassy in Quito before making the arrest, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador posted on X. The Ecuadorean president’s office said in a statement it had arrested Glas, who was vice president under the leftist government of Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017. In a statement, Ecuador’s presidency accused Mexico of “having abused the immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission that housed the former vice president, and granting diplomatic asylum contrary to the conventional legal framework.” Lopez Obrador said he had instructed Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena to suspend diplomatic ties with Ecuador, calling the arrest an “authoritarian” act and a violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty. Barcena announced the “immediate” suspension of diplomatic ties with the South American nation shortly afterward on X and added later that embassy staff would return to Mexico. Ecuadorean authorities had sought permission from Mexico to enter the embassy to arrest Glas, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 after he was found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding it government contracts. @@@@