Diplomatic storm grows after Ecuadorian raid at Mexican embassy

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Conflict in diplomatic relations has grown after Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy in Ecuador on Saturday to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, who had requested asylum at the embassy in Quito.

Foreign Ecuadorian Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld said on Monday that the Mexican government committed "provocations" and "breaches" in granting asylum to Glas and that Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa "had information" that Glas was going to escape that night.

Since Mexico granted Glas asylum just hours before the raid on the embassy, and after Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's statements about sending a military plane to pick up the Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur, who was expelled from Ecuador, speculation began about an operation for the former vice president to leave with the Mexican authorities.

Glas was wanted by his country's justice system on corruption charges and had been taking refuge in the Mexican diplomatic headquarters since December. The 54-year-old politician was transferred on Saturday to a maximum security prison in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil known as "The Rock," according to the country's authorities.

Mexico announced that it will file a formal complaint against Ecuador before the International Court of Justice for violating international agreements by raiding the embassy in Quito.

“Starting tomorrow (Monday) we will be going to the International Court of Justice, where we will be presenting this sad case and of course we will go to all the regional and international multilateral forums that correspond so that this is condemned in its entirety by the international community,” said Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Barcena after Mexico's diplomatic staff in Ecuador returned to the country on Sunday.

Barcena said that Mexico will not act in a similar way against the Ecuadorian Embassy.

"On instructions from the president, we want to call for calm, we are not going to apply the same recipe (to Ecuador). We are not going to carry out the abuse that they did to us," she said.

Governments in the region, both left and right, have condemned the raid and asked countries to respect international law.