By Laura Gamba
BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Tuesday that his government decided to close its embassy in Ecuador and consulates in Quito and Guayaquil to show support for Mexico.
“The statements by President (of Ecuador) Daniel Noboa, that he feels proud of having attacked the Mexican Embassy, saying that he does not recognize that embassies are the country's territory and that they must be respected, is a direct threat to all the countries that have an embassy in Ecuador,” Maduro said at the virtual summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) convened to discuss the issue.
“I have ordered to close our Embassy in Ecuador, close the Consulate in Quito, immediately close the Consulate in Guayaquil and for diplomatic personnel to return to Venezuela immediately,” he said.
The announcement is in response to the April 5 raid by Ecuadorian police at the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who requested asylum at the embassy.
The 54-year-old politician had been taking refuge in the embassy since Dec. 17, where he had been granted asylum.
Glas had been convicted of corruption by Ecuador but was released from prison at the end of 2023 after a judge accepted a habeas corpus appeal from his defense lawyers.
"There is no doubt that President Daniel Noboa's action of attacking the Mexican Embassy has been an act of barbarism, today condemned by the entire world," said Maduro.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked countries at CELEC to join his complaint against Ecuador before the International Court of Justice.
Lopez Obrador said his complaint seeks "an expulsion of Ecuador from the United Nations, as long as there is no apology and an offer of non-repetition, to never again appeal to dirty tricks" such as the raid on the Mexican diplomatic headquarters.
The decision by Noboa to order the raid has prompted condemnation from across the political spectrum in Latin America.