Mexico severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador after Ecuadorian police on Friday arrested Jorge Glas, an Ecuadorian politician who had taken refuge in Mexico's embassy in Quito.
That arrest, which Mexico described as a “violation” of its sovereignty, capped days of rising tensions between the 2 Latin American nations. Ecuador thought-about Mr. Glas a fugitive and stated its police power was performing on an arrest warrant for Mr. Glas.
Right here's what you should know concerning the politician on the heart of the dispute.
Jorge Glas is a former vp of Ecuador.
Mr. Glas served in a number of ministerial roles underneath the long-left authorities of a former Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa. Mr. Glas' most notable function was as Mr. Correa's vp, a place he held from 2013 to 2017.
His time period as vp within the subsequent authorities, led by Lenín Moreno, lasted only some months. In 2017, he was pressured out of workplace and sentenced to 6 years in jail after being discovered responsible of receiving greater than $13.5 million {dollars} in bribes.
The bribes concerned Odebrecht, a world building large that admitted to paying bribes in additional than a dozen nations. The corruption scandal concerned present and former officers in Latin America and shook its political institution.
He turned embroiled in different corruption prices.
In 2020, a separate corruption case led to Mr. Glas being discovered responsible of accepting cash in trade for issuing public contracts between 2012 and 2016.
The case was fastidiously noticed, not solely due to the involvement of Mr. Glas: amongst these ultimately convicted for accepting some $ 8 million in bribes was Mr. Correa, the previous magnetic however divided president of the nation. Mr. Correa and Mr. Glas have been sentenced to eight years in jail, a conviction that Mr. Correa stated was politically motivated.
Mr Glas was launched early from jail in November 2022, after attorneys argued he was not secure behind bars. Going through additional prices from Ecuadorian prosecutors for alleged embezzlement of public funds, he sought asylum in Mexico in December. For months, he was within the grounds of the Mexican embassy in Quito.
His arrest on the Mexican embassy broke diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
The previous vp's asylum standing has been a rising level of competition between the 2 nations for months. Ministry of International Affairs of Ecuador he said in March that he had requested Mexico's permission to arrest Mr. Glas.
Within the days earlier than Mr. Glas' arrest, relations between the 2 nations turned extra strained after Mexico's president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, appeared to query the legitimacy of the newest presidential election. Ecuador, and publicly commented on the homicide final yr. an Ecuadorian political candidate.
Ecuador on Thursday criticized Mr. López Obrador for commenting on the assassination and declared the ambassador of Mexico “persona non grata”, or unwelcome. In response, Mexico stated it had ordered its ambassador to return to Mexico. In the identical launch, Mexico stated it might grant Mr. Glas political asylum and condemned the elevated presence of Ecuadorian authorities close to the embassy.
Mexico has granted political asylum to different former officers in Latin American nations who’ve been accused of corruption, creating friction within the area. In 2019, it granted asylum to Evo Morales, the previous president of Bolivia, and in 2022 to the household of Pedro Castillo, the previous president of Peru.
Following the arrest of Mr. Glas from Ecuador, native information stories confirmed two black automobiles, sirens blaring, driving away as cops watched. Mexican officers immediately broke off diplomatic relations with Ecuador, calling the sequestration of Mr. Glas a violation of worldwide regulation.
The Ecuadorian authorities stated the choice to arrest Mr. Glas was made as a result of Mexico had abused using diplomatic immunity and privileges.
“The nationwide authorities defends nationwide sovereignty, not permitting anybody to intervene within the nation's inner affairs,” a press release from Ecuador's presidential workplace stated on Friday.
