Mexico’s foreign minister on Friday (April 5) announced the immediate suspension of diplomatic relations with Ecuador just after Ecuadorean authorities seized former Vice President Jorge Glas from the Mexican embassy in Quito.

Glas, convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, a request Mexico granted earlier on Friday.

Police forcefully entered Mexico’s embassy in Quito before making the arrest, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador posted on X.

Lopez Obrador said he had instructed Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena to suspend diplomatic ties with Ecuador, calling the arrest an “authoritarian” act and a violation of international law and Mexican sovereignty.

In a statement, Ecuador’s presidency accused Mexico of “having abused the immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission that housed the former vice president, and granting diplomatic asylum contrary to the conventional legal framework.”

(Reuters)