Ecuador declares Mexico ambassador persona non grata, orders her to leave

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - ​​Ecuador's government declared Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke a “persona non grata” and ordered her to leave on Thursday.

The move came after recent statements by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who suggested Daniel Noboa won the Ecuadorian presidential election because of the murder of candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

“It is a measure provided by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and that implies that the ambassador must leave the country within a short period of time. It does not mean breaking diplomatic relations,” the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

At his Wednesday news briefing, Lopez Obrador said leftist candidate Luisa Gonzalez lost the Ecuadorian presidential contest last October against Noboa because Villavicencio, who was later murdered by organized criminal gangs, spoke ill of Gonzalez, who was unfairly tied to his killing.

“A candidate who speaks ill of the candidate at the top is suddenly assassinated, and the candidate who was at the top falls, and the candidate who was in second place rises. But the candidate who remains a suspect after this murder continues campaigning in, I consider, very difficult circumstances,” Lopez Obrador said, regretting Gonzalez's defeat. “Well, the candidate did not win and the most unfortunate thing is that the violence continues.”

Ecuador’s government said the nation remains in mourning over Villavicencio’s assassination, and “continues facing transnational organized crime.”

The diplomatic clash between both countries occurred a month after Ecuador asked Mexico to enter the diplomatic house in Quito to arrest former Vice President Jorge Glas, who has taken refuge in the Mexican Embassy since Dec. 17, 2023 to avoid prison for two sentences for corruption.

Mexico responded that its government would not allow Ecuadorian authorities to enter the Mexican Embassy to arrest Glas, claiming it would "violate the diplomatic immunity" of the envoy.