The diplomatic crisis between Mexico and Ecuador is far from being resolved. The North American country has made it clear that it is not seeking dialogue, much less reestablishing relations between the two nations. The clarification was made by Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, given the confusion generated by her statements in a radio program, in which she stated that they were talking with a third country to protect the assets of the 18 diplomats who had to leave Ecuador suddenly after the assault on their Embassy in Quito to capture Jorge Glas. “A diplomatic dialogue, but not direct, but we are going to do it through a third country, and most likely it will be Switzerland,” said Bárcena.
In Ecuador, for a moment, Bárcena’s words caught sight of a spark of a possible end to the diplomatic conflict. “Ecuador is open, ready to talk and thus resolve any conflict,” said Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, who explained that Switzerland has accepted the request of Mexico and Ecuador to be that channel of diplomatic communication. But the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that the request is to protect the property and furniture of Mexican diplomatic personnel. “Nothing more, nothing less,” the statement said. “Any interpretation that exceeds that framework is inaccurate and whimsical,” she adds. But the clarification also confuses Ecuador, which has insisted that it has made it clear before the Mexican Government and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the security of the assets is guaranteed, and that it will allow all belongings to be withdrawals.
But the López Obrador Government does not trust and seeks its own ways to protect its files and assets in Quito, despite the fact that the highest judicial court of the United Nations decided that there is no imminent risk of irreparable damage to the rights claimed by Mexico and that for the moment “there is no urgency” to dictate preliminary measures against Ecuador. Mexico’s statement points out that it has not sought, nor does it seek, the intermediation of any third country. And he awaits the decision of the ICJ where he has sued Ecuador for violation of the Vienna Convention and the right to asylum by forcibly detaining Jorge Glas, who had been granted that benefit a few hours before. “This is a slamming of the door by Mexico in which it makes it clear that it is not interested in sitting down to talk with Ecuador,” says Esteban Santos, an international lawyer. The expert believes that a window to dialogue could exist only after the inauguration of a new Government after the elections in Mexico, and even those in Ecuador in 2025. “The ruling of the ICJ does not matter, it has no impact, because the Court “It cannot force countries to reestablish diplomatic relations,” analyzes Santos.
Switzerland’s mediation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifies, is to entrust it with protection and diplomatic and consular functions to address urgent matters required by Mexican citizens in Ecuador, as provided for by international law. “That is the figure that Mexico resorts to,” highlights the Secretariat. The Ecuadorian Government made the same request to Peru in Mexican territory, which agreed to meet the urgent requirements of Ecuadorians in that country. Although the situation is different for migrants in Mexican territory because after the breakdown of relations, the consular offices in both countries closed, and this occurs when Ecuador is going through one of the worst migration crises in its history.
More than 120,000 Ecuadorians have left the country and their return has not been recorded, according to the Institute of Statistics and Censuses of Ecuador. Thousands of Ecuadorians who resort to irregular migration due to the economic situation and violence in the country, use Mexico as a route to reach the United States. In 2023, nearly 71,000 Ecuadorians were detained by the immigration authorities in that country, of which 2,500 were deported. In the first three months of 2024, 37,000 arrests were reported and only 86 people have been deported, according to the Migration Policy, Registration and Identity of Persons Unit of Mexico.
“Ecuadorians feel like they are orphaned,” describes Lorena Mena, director of Continente Móvil, a research project on migration in Mexico. Ecuadorian consular procedures in that country are limited to telematic attention that does not respond with the urgency required by cases of violation of rights that thousands of migrants experience when transiting irregularly. The organization has detected testimonies from migrants who have been warned by criminal groups that are dedicated to extorting and kidnapping along the entire journey that people take to reach the border. “They have warned Ecuadorians that since there is no authority to help them get out of any problem, it is better that they pay extortion,” says Mena.
The consequences of the presidential decision are beginning to be felt in other services, after almost two months of the assault on the Mexican Embassy in Quito. For example, the airline Aeroméxico will suspend its operations on the direct route it had between Quito and Mexico City starting July 1 due to a decrease in passenger, cargo and mail occupancy. Mexico is one of the main investing countries in Ecuador and although trade tries to keep its distance from politics and diplomatic conflict, there is a bill that is beginning to arrive little by little. In addition to the impact on the country’s image in the world when seeing the scene of the police scaling the walls of the diplomatic headquarters, a place that until two months ago was unthinkable that could be entered by force.
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