Mexico has cut diplomatic ties with Ecuador and withdrawn its embassy personnel from Quito after Ecuadorian police and military forces raided the Mexican Embassy Friday to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had taken refuge there for months. Mexico had granted Glas asylum protections just hours before dozens of police and military forces stormed the Mexican Embassy. Glas served under former leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. Glas is being investigated for corruption and was previously convicted on graft charges, which he and allies have denounced as politically motivated. The raid on Mexico’s Embassy in Quito has sparked condemnation across Latin America and the world. This is Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena.
Alicia Bárcena: “Mexico repeats its condemnation of the violation of the immunity of its embassy in Quito and the aggression toward its staff. … As per instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, we are coordinating the return of all of our diplomatic staff in Ecuador, along with their families, after the violent attack carried out by Ecuadorian police in our embassy on the night of Friday, April 5th.”