In 2015 I lived in Ecuador and had the misfortune of meeting Jorge Glas. The character always generated antipathy in me, a crude person, clearly corroded by power and with little ability to be empathetic. In a meeting at the Carondelet Palace we had a moment of tension, I disagreed with an idea of his and even more so with how he had communicated it to me, his response was to get upset; some pawing and shouting like someone who is used to imposing themselves based on volume and not reason. During my time in Ecuador I met some lovely people, he was not one of them.
Still, despite the dislike that the character generates in me, I recognize his right to request asylum at the Mexican embassy. The much-cited Caracas Convention states that “it is up to the asylum State to determine the nature of the crime or the reasons for the persecution.” This is determined because in the vast majority of cases of political persecution, those persecuted are accused of common crimes to justify the persecution. This is quite obvious, no current government is going to admit that it is persecuting someone for “political” reasons, and therefore persecuting them for some other crime, sometimes true, most of the time distorted. Not many years ago, Ecuador itself gave asylum to Julian Assange despite accusations of espionage in the United States. If Mexico had decided not to give asylum to people accused of crimes in their own countries, much of the exile from Latin American dictatorships and Francoism would never have reached this country.
The invasion of the Ecuadorian police forces into the Mexican embassy is a flagrant violation of international statutes and the Vienna convention specifically. It is also an insane act by a president thirsty for public admiration in his country. The profile of the character in question explains many things: the son of the richest man in Ecuador, born in Miami and educated in the United States; the mirrey who is used to being able to do what he wants, to arrogance, to the abuse of power, to whim. Noboa is what happens when a mirrey becomes president. I have no information to know if Jorge Glas is corrupt or politically persecuted, but it is clear to me that the urgency that led Noboa to enter the Mexican embassy illegally is an act motivated by a non-legal political dividend. A new populist act ―a la Bukele― that tramples on international law in pursuit of a local political triumph, of popularity, of rejoicing in ego and power. Little children playing with adult toys.
Noboa forgets that playing to public opinion is high risk in Ecuador. One of his predecessors, Lenin Moreno, reached record levels of approval in July 2017 when he began legal persecution against former president Rafael Correa. At that time, Moreno enjoyed 77% approval and rejoiced in his masterstroke. A few years later, Lenín Moreno achieved another record, the lowest level of approval in the history of Ecuador with only 5% of Ecuadorians approving of his management; Today he is remembered as one of the worst presidents in history. More recently, in August 2021 Guillermo Lasso had 71% approval, a couple of years later, in May 2023 he had 22% approval, he was politically prosecuted and resigned from the presidency. I remember meeting Guillermo Lasso in a hotel in CDMX during the most difficult moments of Lenin Moreno's government. Quito had become so ungovernable that they had changed the seat of power to Guayaquil and Lasso, sitting in a bar on Paseo de la Reform, seemed happy or at least calm: I suspect he felt that the crisis helped his ambitions. A few years later it would be his turn to taste disapproval and cross death.
Mexico's response to what was perpetrated by the Government of Ecuador has been sensible, even to the point of being too sensible. The breaking of relations is the minimum that corresponds in a case of this nature and López Obrador does not seem very motivated to take the matter further. The problem is that many of the other legal remedies that have been announced will take years to be resolved, the conflict will cool down and Noboa will have the victory from it. It is true that his victory will be pyrrhic, sooner or later he will pay the consequences of his actions, but in the short term he will achieve his objective: to raise his popularity at the expense of the dignity of Mexico and the international right. For this reason, Mexico has to be forceful, not because of a matter of patriotic pride but because as the precedent goes unpunished, Mexico and international law lose validity. What happens if nothing happens? The answer is that this will happen again.
![Police subdue Roberto Canseco, head of the Foreign Ministry and Political Affairs of the Mexican embassy, during the raid on the diplomatic headquarters.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/lbSY0xEf3Chkl9_Lxi0dahWxBXU=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/XKXZY6Y5WMJZRUJ6TXEG3HAPUA.jpg)
It is time for Mexico to shore up its leadership and, together with Chile and Colombia, propose actions that have consequences for the young president of Ecuador. It is also an opportunity for these countries to put a stop to Almagro's game in the OAS; The OAS has become the spokesperson for its Secretary General and his personal philias and phobias. This is an opportunity to put pressure on the simulation that the OAS has become and the silence of Washington and – although more irrelevant – that of the European Union. What would things be like if it were Iran that had broken into the US embassy, or Algeria the French one? Washington will intervene only if Mexico pressures it forcefully as it did in the Cienfuegos case, but apparently there was more urgency to free the general than to defend Mexico's position in the world.
For its part, the opposition in Mexico has made a serious mistake. Once again they have confused their interests, phobias and militancy with a communication policy consistent with their objectives. Their nuanced position, which accuses President López Obrador of having caused this, only sinks them further into their inconsequentiality. Not only because in a strict sense, this is unjustified, but because they have once again been unable to see beyond their hatred of the president and have affected their own interests.
![A group of demonstrators protest outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in Mexico, in Mexico City, on April 6, 2024, after the breakdown of diplomatic relations between both countries.](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/0KwAGWw0zuSXjUOKSPPhBMVNoaE=/414x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/S2DIQETADJAIPPIW537ODM2JOI.jpg)
What Ecuador did is very serious. Whatever you think of López Obrador, this transcends him. Ecuador violated the sovereignty of Mexico, not that of the 4T. This is not the time for political pettiness, and many among them have given in to it. What is surprising is their inability to understand the moments and pulse of the country they seek to govern. In the end, they are the most affected. López Obrador has made important mistakes on international issues, but his position is strengthened by what happened in Ecuador. Understood communicationally, an attack on the Mexican State does not weaken it, it weakens those who seek to justify the attack. Loret de Mola has expressed it appropriately: “Ecuador committed an unjustifiable outrage, a flagrant violation of international agreements and the sovereignty of Mexico. The president has all the tools and has the national support to respond. Whatever we think of the sinister character to whom Mexico gave asylum, whatever we think of López Obrador's interventionist nonsense, what Ecuador did is another level. Inadmissible.” ―He wrote on Twitter. He was one of the few who clearly understood the moment and the communicative pulse of the situation.
Ecuador's affront is not a minor issue. The world should be more worried. If a country attacks an embassy of another country and nothing happens, a terrible precedent is set for all countries on the planet. If embassies become spaces at the mercy of local governments, international law begins to fall apart. Mexico's position in the world is also at stake. If attacking Mexico has no consequences, our international position is weakened. But worse still, for 95% of the countries in the world, if attacking the embassy of the twelfth largest economy in the world is not a problem, then what consequence will attacking the sovereignty of the next 183 economies have? Jorge Glas may not be a pleasant character, but nothing justifies the attack on an embassy or the sovereignty of a country.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS Mexico newsletter and to whatsapp channel and receive all the key information on current events in this country.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Ecuador39s #attack #unjustifiable #Glas