The Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador has decided to grant political asylum to the former vice president of Ecuador Jorge Glas, who has been taking refuge in the Mexican embassy in Quito since December 17. The announcement comes in the midst of a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, after Daniel Noboa's Administration this Thursday declared Raquel Serur, the Mexican ambassador in the country, persona non grata, and ordered her expulsion. In his morning conference this Friday, López Obrador ruled out responding with the same measures: “We are not going to break relations, nor are we going to do the same with the ambassador of Ecuador. “We are going to go look for Raquel Serur.”
The diplomatic tension between Ecuador and Mexico has precipitated this week, but it has been brewing for months. Glas, who was vice president of Ecuador in the Governments of Rafael Correa and Lenín Moreno, appeared on December 17 at the Mexican embassy “expressing fear for his safety and personal freedom,” according to the Foreign Ministry. The Ecuadorian police had orders to arrest him to appear in an investigation into the diversion of million-dollar funds intended for the reconstruction of Ecuador's coast after the brutal 2016 earthquake that left nearly 700 dead. His lawyer said the subpoena was part of “political persecution.”
Glas, who was in charge of all the ministries of the strategic sectors between the Correa and Moreno governments, was already sentenced to two sentences: one of six years in prison for illicit association in the Odebrecht caseand another eight years for bribery by the Bribery case, where Correa and a dozen officials and businessmen were also sentenced. Of the 14-year sentence, he only served five in prison. In 2022, a judge – now also arrested for corruption in the judicial system – granted him the precautionary measure. The politician had been free until December when he received the arrest warrant and took refuge in the Mexican embassy.
On March 1, the Government of Daniel Noboa asked Mexico for permission to enter with the security forces to arrest Glas. The police were guarding the exterior of the embassy awaiting instructions. The Executive of Ecuador had maintained that Mexico could not grant the former vice president diplomatic asylum because it could not be granted to those who “are accused, prosecuted or convicted of common crimes, without having served the respective sentences.” However, Mexico did not allow the agents to enter and the case had remained frozen until this Friday's announcement.
“It is reported that, after an exhaustive analysis of the information received, the Government of Mexico has decided to grant political asylum to Mr. Jorge David Glas Espinel,” reads the statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “which will be officially communicated to the Ecuadorian authorities together with the request that they grant the respective safe passage, in accordance with the 1954 Diplomatic Asylum Convention. In its response, the Mexican Foreign Ministry reminds Ecuador that it is obliged to respect the asylum decision and grant safe passage. Noboa has already said on several occasions that they will not grant permission for Glas to leave the embassy, which is surrounded by police.
The Foreign Ministry also speaks out on this: “The Government of Mexico rejects the increase in the presence of Ecuadorian police forces outside the Mexican Embassy in Quito, which, according to statements by Ecuadorian authorities, is a measure of rejection and disagreement with statements from Mexican authorities. This constitutes clear harassment of your Embassy and a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. It is evident that these actions do not correspond to the usual practices for protecting diplomatic properties.” The statement ends by asking Ecuador to respect sovereignty and “cease the harassment”: “If this situation continues, Mexico holds Ecuador responsible for any impact on the diplomatic headquarters, its accredited personnel and any person who is under the protection of the State. Mexican in that country.”
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