In an effort to exacerbate their diplomatic spat, Mexico on Friday granted political asylum to Jorge Glas, the former vice president of Ecuador, who is seeking sanctuary in the Mexican embassy in Quito.
The administration of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa called the action a “illicit act” and said that safe passage would not be granted, meaning that Glas might be forced to remain at the embassy forever.
The announcement also occurs one day after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made remarks that displeased Quito, prompting Ecuador to request the Mexican ambassador to leave the nation.
Mexico’s foreign ministry said it had decided to grant political asylum to Glas “after a thorough analysis” of the situation.
Between 2013 and 2017, Glas worked for leftist Rafael Correa. After an arrest order for his alleged wrongdoing was issued last December, he sought asylum in the Mexican embassy.
In line with international norms, Ecuador declared on Friday that “it is not legal to grant asylum to people who have been convicted or prosecuted for common crimes and by competent ordinary courts.”
After doing time for corruption in a significant scandal involving the enormous Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, Glas was freed from prison in November.
He is the subject of a second arrest warrant for allegedly misappropriating money meant for post-devastating earthquake reconstruction in 2015.
Mexico filed a complaint on Friday, citing “harassment” as a result of heightened police presence outside its embassy in Quito.
“This is what fascists are like,” Lopez Obrador said at his daily news conference.
The two governments ruled out breaking diplomatic relations, despite Quito declaring Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur “persona non grata.”
Tensions increased after Lopez Obrador compared criminality in Mexico prior to the June 2 legislative and presidential elections, and the violence that occurred during the 2023 Ecuadorian election that resulted in the murder of a candidate, Fernando Villavicencio.
According to Lopez Obrador, violence and “manipulation” by certain media outlets contributed to Luisa Gonzalez’s decline in popularity and Noboa’s ascent.
The Ecuadoran government criticized his comments as offensive and said the country was still in “mourning” for Villavicencio, a fierce opponent of corruption.
Until a few years ago, Ecuador was considered an island of peace surrounded by major cocaine producers Peru and Colombia, but today it is also plagued by gang violence linked to the drug trade.
