Mexico severs diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police storm its embassy to arrest politician

QUITO, Ecuador — Mexico’s government severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president, an extraordinary use of force that shocked and mystified regional leaders and diplomats. This is totally outside the norm.” Police attempt to break into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024, following Mexico’s granting of asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought refuge there. Honduran President Xiomara Castro, writing on X, characterized the raid as “an intolerable act for the international community” and a “violation of the sovereignty of the Mexican State and international law” because “it ignores the historical and fundamental right to asylum.” The Organization of American States in a statement reminded its members, which include Ecuador and Mexico, of their “obligation” to not “invoke norms of domestic law to justify non-compliance with their international obligations.” Police guard vehicles that drove into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024. Ecuadorian police officers forcibly broke into the embassy where former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas was holed up, just hours after the Mexican government had granted him political asylum. Bárcena on Friday said Mexico would take the case to the International Court of Justice “to denounce Ecuador’s responsibility for violations of international law.” She also recalled Mexican diplomats.