Latin American Leaders Condemn Ecuadorian Police Assault on Mexican Embassy

It is “a barbaric act” and “a violation of international law.” This is how several Latin American governments and political leaders reacted to the attack by the Ecuadorian National Police on the Mexican Embassy in Quito, in which several diplomats were injured and the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, was arrested.

Reactions in Mexico: violation of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, called Ecuador’s actions “a flagrant violation of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty.”

“This is a flagrant violation of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty, for which I have instructed our foreign affairs secretary to issue a statement on this authoritarian act, proceed legally and immediately declare the suspension of diplomatic relations with the government of Ecuador,” AMLO wrote on social media.

Me acaba de informar Alicia Bárcena, nuestra secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores que policías de Ecuador entraron por la fuerza a nuestra embajada y se llevaron detenido al exvicepresidente de ese país quien se encontraba refugiado y tramitando asilo por la persecución y el acoso…
— Andrés Manuel (@lopezobrador_) April 6, 2024

The Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretariat announced the immediate breaking off of diplomatic relations with Ecuador.

“In view of the brutal assault perpetrated by the Ecuadorian police at the Mexican Embassy on the night of Friday, April 5, and in accordance with the instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico announces the severance of diplomatic relations with that country,” the secretariat announced in a statement.

“It is something really unusual, inadmissible and outrageous, not even in the worst coups d’état in our region had there been a situation of this nature,” expressed Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena in comments to Milenio TV.

“We demand respect for our sovereignty and the integrity of our embassy and diplomatic personnel,” the president of the Mexican Senate, Ana Lilia Rivera, said. “We make a firm call for the government of Ecuador to reconsider its actions and return to diplomatic channels to resolve any dispute.”

The former foreign secretary of Mexico, Marcelo Ebrard, said that Ecuador’s action “is unprecedented.”

“The action of the government of Ecuador of forcibly entering the Mexican Embassy in that country, detaining an asylum seeker and violating national sovereignty is unprecedented. I support President López Obrador’s decision to suspend relations,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mexico’s frontrunner presidential candidate from the ruling party MORENA, Claudia Sheinbaum, called the assault on the embassy “a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention.”

“The assault on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador is a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention,” she wrote on social media. “It is an affront to diplomacy and international law that is inadmissible. I express all my solidarity and support for President López Obrador in the defense of our sovereignty.”

The presidential candidate of the opposition, Xóchitl Gálvez, also criticized Ecuador’s actions, stressing that “one may or may not agree with the administration of justice in other countries, but the diplomatic headquarters of any foreign nation are inviolable.”

Reactions in Ecuador

Government defends its actions
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, declared that he will not allow “any criminal to go unpunished.”

“No criminal can be considered to be politically persecuted. Jorge Glas has been convicted with an enforceable sentence and had an arrest warrant issued by the competent authorities,” he proclaimed.

“Ecuador is facing a non-international armed conflict, whose repercussions on democracy and citizen security will only increase if acts that interfere with the rule of law, national sovereignty or issues of interference in internal affairs of the country continue or are condoned,” he added, without mentioning that the armed conflict is a result of the neoliberal policies applied in the country, of which Glas is a firm critic.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry claimed in a statement that since Ecuador and Mexico are state parties to the Convention on Political Asylum of 1933 and the Convention on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954, “it is not lawful to grant asylum to persons convicted or prosecuted for common crimes and by ordinary competent courts.”

“Ecuador reiterates that it is not possible to grant diplomatic asylum to Jorge David Glas Espinel, under the provisions of Article III of the Convention on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954 and Article I of the Convention on Political Asylum of 1933, which clearly state that it is not lawful to grant asylum to persons convicted or prosecuted for common crimes and by competent ordinary courts,” the document states.

“The granting of diplomatic asylum, in this case, constitutes an illicit act of the State that grants it, supports an evasion of justice imparted by the Ecuadorian State, and promotes impunity,” the document added.

Rafael Correa and Citizen Revolution condemn political persecution against Jorge Glas
Former President Rafael Correa held Daniel Noboa responsible for the safety of Jorge Glas, who was violently arrested despite having received political asylum from the government of Mexico.

“We hold Daniel Noboa responsible for the security and physical and psychological integrity of former Vice President Jorge Glas. To Mexico, its people and its government, our apologies and eternal admiration,” Correa wrote on social media.

The leftist Citizen Revolution (RC) movement, led by Correa, declared that “what happened in the last few hours in the country is barbaric, contrary to the basic rules and fundamental principles of civilized coexistence, international law and diplomatic norms.”

¡ Al País y al mundo ! pic.twitter.com/2wZNfGtaLS
— Revolución Ciudadana (@RC5Oficial) April 6, 2024

RC also demanded that President Daniel Noboa resign.

Several parliamentarians and former officials belonging to RC expressed their condemnation against the aggression on Mexican embassy.

“Unacceptable, a worldwide shame. What just happened at the Mexican Embassy in Quito generates a complex situation for Ecuador before the system and international law,” the mayor of Quito, Pabel Muñoz, wrote in a post on X.

“Is there any doubt that Jorge Glas is the victim of a terrible persecution?” Muñoz questioned.

Indigenous movement CONAIE calls the assault on Mexican embassy a “fascist act”
The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) called the incident a “fascist act.”

“The violation of the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador is a fascist act of extreme gravity that violates diplomatic relations and international law,” CONAIE stated on social media.

🔴 #URGENTE
Gravísimo lo que ha hecho el gobierno de Ecuador de @DanielNoboaOk.
La violación de la embajada de #México en Ecuador es un acto fascista de extrema gravedad que atenta contra las relaciones diplomáticas y el derecho internacional. Las embajadas representan la… pic.twitter.com/axkadOZLin
— CONAIE (@CONAIE_Ecuador) April 6, 2024

The indigenous organization also called the invasion of the Mexican embassy “a clear violation of Mexican sovereignty and an absolute disregard for international law.”

Ecuador’s Security Forces Invade Embassy of Mexico, Abduct Ex-Vice President Jorge Glas

Reactions from other Latin American countries
The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, expressed that what happened in Ecuador is “an intolerable act for the international community.”

El asalto a la Embajada de México por parte del Gobierno de Ecuador, con el objetivo de secuestrar al ex vicepresidente J. Glass, constituye un acto intolerable para la comunidad internacional, dado que ignora el histórico y fundamental derecho al asilo. Repudiamos enérgicamente…
— Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (@XiomaraCastroZ) April 6, 2024

“The assault on the Mexican Embassy by the Government of Ecuador, with the aim of kidnapping former Vice President J. Glas, constitutes an intolerable act for the international community, given that it ignores the historic and fundamental right to asylum,” she wrote on social media.

“We stand in solidarity with the Mexican people and their president,” she added.

The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, stressed that “the Vienna Convention and Mexico’s sovereignty in Ecuador have been violated.”

Se ha roto la convención de Viena y la soberanía de México en Ecuador.
Vuelvo a insistir que América Latina y el Caribe, cualquiera que sean las construcciones sociales y políticas en cada país, debe mantener vivos los preceptos del derecho internacional en medio de la barbarie… https://t.co/JgpTyeioLv
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) April 6, 2024

“I insist again that Latin America and the Caribbean, whatever the social and political constructions in each country, must keep alive the precepts of International Law in the midst of the barbarism that advances in the world and the democratic pact within the continent. Colombia respects the universal right to political asylum. All my solidarity to the diplomatic staff of Mexico in Quito,” Petro wrote on social media.

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, called the invasion of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador and the detention of Jorge Glas from inside the embassy a “fascist act against international law.”

“It is an act of barbarism, something never seen in Latin America,” President Maduro wrote on Twitter. “The right-wing pro-US government of Ecuador brutally violated international law, assaulting the Mexican embassy in Ecuador and abducting a person who had been granted political asylum by the Mexican government. Venezuela raises its voice to strongly condemn this fascist act against international law, and expresses its full and absolute solidarity with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the people of Mexico.”

Es un acto de barbarie, algo nunca visto en América Latina, el gobierno de derecha pro yankee de Ecuador violó brutalmente el Derecho Internacional, asaltando la Embajada de México en Ecuador y secuestrando a un asilado político, así reconocido por el gobierno mexicano. Venezuela… https://t.co/O59LmuNtCn
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) April 6, 2024

Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil reported that he spoke with his Mexican counterpart, Alicia Bárcena, on telephone to convey “the complete solidarity of President Nicolás Maduro to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the face of this barbaric act that violates all principles of international law.”

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called “unacceptable” the violation of the Mexican embassy in Quito.

“All our solidarity with Mexico amid the unacceptable violation of its Embassy in Quito. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which is an essential component of International Law, must be respected by all,” he said.

Toda nuestra solidaridad con #México, ante la inaceptable violación de su Embajada en Quito.
Debe respetarse por todos la Convención de Viena sobre Relaciones Diplomáticas que es un componente esencial del Derecho Internacional. https://t.co/ftprvoIaGU
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) April 6, 2024

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez declared, “We strongly condemn the incursion of Ecuadorian military forces into the Mexican Embassy in Quito, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the right to asylum and the sovereignty of Mexico.”

Similarly, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, expressed his solidarity with “the president and my friend Andrés Manuel López Obrador.”

The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, stated that the assault on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador affected “the brotherhood and peaceful coexistence among the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

“The Plurinational State of Bolivia, respectful of the rules governing diplomatic relations, strongly condemns the Ecuadorian police raid on the Embassy of the United Mexican States in the Republic of Ecuador, a fact that has no precedent in the history of international law,” he stressed.

El Estado Plurinacional de #Bolivia, respetuoso de las normas que rigen las relaciones diplomáticas, condena enérgicamente la irrupción de la policía ecuatoriana en la Embajada de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos en la República del #Ecuador, hecho que no tiene precedentes en la…
— Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (Lucho Arce) (@LuchoXBolivia) April 6, 2024

Arce emphasized that “this serious and unacceptable act is an attack against Mexican sovereignty and transgresses principles established in the Montevideo Convention on Political Asylum, as well as in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.”

“We condemn the transgression of the right to asylum and the kidnapping and detention of the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, who was awaiting safe conduct at the Mexican diplomatic headquarters, evidencing not only the violation of international norms but also the affectation of the brotherhood and peaceful coexistence among the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean,” he added.

The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, called the incident “very serious” and demanded that the Bolivian government suspend diplomatic relations with Quito.

“It is very serious what the government of Ecuador did violating the territorial sovereignty of Mexico and international law,” he wrote on Twitter. “We demand that the government of Bolivia suspend diplomatic relations with the government of Ecuador for this affront to Mexico, to the right of asylum and to Latin American integration. Our full solidarity with comrade Jorge Glas.”

Nicaragua announced the complete suspension of diplomatic relations with Ecuador in response to the assault on the Mexican embassy, calling it a “flagrant violation of international law that we see repeatedly from governments that are corrupt and servile to empires.”

“Our solidarity and accompaniment, in any legal action derived from this, with the government of Mexico and President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador,” the government of Nicaragua declared in a statement.

📌 #Nicaragua denuncia a #Ecuador y respalda plenamente a #México exigiendo el cumplimiento del #Derecho Internacional pic.twitter.com/g2cILqgfUc
— El 19 Digital (@el19digital) April 6, 2024

The statement also alluded to the way a former government of Ecuador, headed by Lenin Moreno, allowed the London police to capture Wikileaks founder Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in the UK, although Assange had been granted political asylum and citizenship by former President Rafael Correa.

Since September 2020, Nicaragua and Ecuador do not maintain relations at ambassador levels. The diplomatic mission of Nicaragua in Ecuador consisted of a charge d’affaires, but by means of this statement, the government of Daniel Ortega announecd the complete withdrawal of its diplomatic missions from Ecuador.

The right-wing governments of the regions, such as Paraguay and Argentina, also criticized the assault on the Mexican embassy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Paraguay stated, “Paraguay observes with deep concern the recent events that took place with the Embassy of Mexico in Ecuador. It calls upon the parties for reflection and for the unrestricted respect of International Law.”

Even the Argentinian government of Javier Milei, who is aligned to Ecuadorian President Noboa in ideology and policies, condemned the police raid on the Mexican embassy.

“Argentina joins the countries of the region in condemning what happened at the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador,” the Argentinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Argentina called for the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum to be respected and claimed to be a State party to it, by which it has granted diplomatic asylum to six Venezuelan coup plotters and is waiting to obtain the corresponding safe conducts from the government of Venezuela.

The Argentinian government also demanded the preservation of “the obligations arising from the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” which enshrines the inviolability of embassies.

The former president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, condemned the incident stating that “the unlawful kidnapping of Jorge Glas from the Mexican embassy in Quito constitutes a serious violation of sovereignty and an attack on the principles of respect and international cooperation.”

Another former president and former vice president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, condemned the police assault on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador and the kidnapping of former VP Jorge Glas as “an unprecedented aggression on American soil that violates both international law and Mexico’s historical tradition of political asylum.”

Andean Parliament calls Ecuador’s actions “unforgivable”
“To please a group of haters, Ecuador has put itself in a serious international conflict, unforgivable,” the president of the Andean Parliament, Cristina Reyes Hidalgo, commented about the incident.

Andean parliamentarian from Ecuador, Virgilio Hernández Enríquez, posted on Twitter an image of the Mexican diplomat Roberto Canseco, in charge of the Mexican embassy in Quito, on the ground, restrained by policemen while the assault on the embassy was being carried out.

Urgente: Está foto será la vergüenza mundial:
El Embajador encargado de México #RobertoCanseco golpeado y en el piso, luego que policías y militares irrumpieron la Embajada mexicana para detener al ex vicepresidente @JorgeGlas, a quien México había concedido asilo político,… pic.twitter.com/Cz3OH0Z49t
— Virgilio Hernández E (@virgiliohernand) April 6, 2024

“This is how Ecuador lives, democratic forms are lost and only authoritarianism remains, blind and senseless. Hatred drove them crazy!” Hernández wrote.

ALBA-TCP calls the events “extremely serious”
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) stated that “the Ecuadorian government’s failure is extremely serious.”

¡Gravísima falta la del gobierno de Ecuador! Del orden internacional basado en reglas, al orden internacional basado en sus propias reglas. Los Gobiernos del @ALBATCP emitirán en las próximas horas un comunicado al respecto. https://t.co/C4ewrOtjrD
— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) April 6, 2024

“From an international order based on rules to an international order based on its own rules,” commented ALBA-TCP Secretary General Jorge Arreaza, referring to the violation of the Mexican embassy.

Another Latin American bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), convened urgent meetings of all members during April 8-9.

“In view of the evident violation of the American Convention on Asylum and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations by the Government of Ecuador, by taking by force the Mexican Embassy in Quito, I urgently convene the CELAC Troika for Monday, April 8, and the Foreign Ministers for Tuesday, April 9,” announced Honduran President Xiomara Castro, who is the pro tempore president of CELAC. She added that the CELAC heads of state meeting will be held soon.

OAS condemns Ecuador’s violation of international law on diplomatic relations
The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) expressed its condemnation of violations to the principle of the inviolability of diplomatic headquarters, as carried out by the Ecuadorian security forces on the Mexican embassy.

“The General Secretariat condemns any action that violates or jeopardizes the inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions,” it stated in a communiqué “on the events in Ecuador.”

The OAS General Secretariat reiterated “the obligation of all States not to invoke norms of domestic law to justify non-compliance with their international obligations.”

It added that the OAS Charter enshrines that “international law is the standard of conduct of States in their reciprocal relations and, in this sense, strict compliance by all States with the rules governing the protection, respect and inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and consular offices is fundamental.”

The statement specified that these rules of respect were established in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of April 18, 1961, and in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963.

“The General Secretariat of the OAS emphasizes the validity of the principles and norms that regulate diplomatic relations between States, and in particular those referring to full respect for the inviolability of the premises of diplomatic missions and consular posts,” it stated.

“At the same time, it reaffirms that these principles and norms constitute fundamental rules to ensure peaceful coexistence among all the countries that constitute the international community,” it added.

It further expressed the need for a meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS to address the “diplomatic crisis between Mexico and Ecuador.”

(Sputnik) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/DZ