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Mexico has severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador after Ecuadorean law enforcement officials on Friday arrested Jorge Glas, an Ecuadorean politician who had been granted refuge in Mexico’s embassy in Quito.
That arrest, which Mexico described as a “violation” of its sovereignty, capped days of rising tensions between the 2 Latin American international locations. Ecuador has thought-about Mr. Glas a fugitive and mentioned its police pressure was performing on an arrest warrant for Mr. Glas.
Right here’s what to know concerning the politician on the heart of the dispute.
Jorge Glas is a former vice chairman of Ecuador.
Mr. Glas served in a number of ministerial roles below the longtime left-wing authorities of a former Ecuadorean president, Rafael Correa. Mr. Glas’s most notable position was as Mr. Correa’s vice chairman, a place he held from 2013 to 2017.
His time period as vice chairman within the subsequent authorities, led by Lenín Moreno, lasted just a few months. In 2017, he was compelled from workplace and sentenced to 6 years in jail after being discovered responsible of receiving over $13.5 million {dollars} in bribes.
The bribes had concerned Odebrecht, a world building big that admitted to paying bribes in additional than a dozen international locations. The corruption scandal implicated present and former officers in Latin America and has rocked its political institution.
He turned mired in different bribery costs.
In 2020, a separate bribery case led to Mr. Glas being discovered responsible of accepting cash in trade for issuing public contracts between 2012 and 2016.
The case was carefully watched, not solely due to the involvement of Mr. Glas: amongst these ultimately convicted of accepting some $8 million in bribes was Mr. Correa, the nation’s magnetic however divisive former president. Each Mr. Correa and Mr. Glas have been sentenced to eight years in jail, a conviction that Mr. Correa has claimed was politically motivated.
Mr. Glas was launched early from jail in November 2022, after legal professionals argued that he was not protected behind bars. Dealing with extra costs from Ecuadorean prosecutors over the alleged embezzlement of public funds, he sought asylum from Mexico in December. For months, he has stayed on the Mexican embassy’s grounds in Quito.
His arrest on the Mexican embassy ruptured diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
The previous vice chairman’s asylum standing has for months been a rising level of competition between the 2 nations. Ecuador’s International Ministry said in March that it had requested Mexico’s permission to arrest Mr. Glas.
Within the days main as much as Mr. Glas’s arrest, the connection between the 2 international locations grew extra strained after Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, appeared to query the legitimacy of Ecuador’s most up-to-date presidential election, and publicly commented on the assassination final yr of an Ecuadorean political candidate.
Ecuador on Thursday criticized Mr. López Obrador for commenting on the assassination and declared Mexico’s ambassador a “persona non grata,” or unwelcome. In response, Mexico mentioned that it had instructed its ambassador to return to Mexico. In the identical launch, Mexico mentioned it will grant Mr. Glas political asylum and condemned the elevated presence of Ecuadorean authorities close to the embassy.
Mexico has granted political asylum to different former officers in Latin American international locations which were accused of corruption, creating friction throughout the area. In 2019, it granted asylum to Evo Morales, the previous president of Bolivia, and in 2022 to the household of Pedro Castillo, the previous president of Peru.
Within the aftermath of Ecuador’s arrest of Mr. Glas, native information stories confirmed two black vehicles, sirens blaring, driving away as law enforcement officials held again onlookers. Mexican officers immediately broke diplomatic relations with Ecuador, calling the seizure of Mr. Glas a violation of worldwide regulation.
Ecuador’s authorities has mentioned that the choice to arrest Mr. Glas was made as a result of Mexico had abused its use of diplomatic immunities and privileges.
“The nationwide authorities defends nationwide sovereignty, with out permitting anybody to intervene within the nation’s inside issues,” mentioned an announcement from the Ecuador’s presidential workplace on Friday.
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