On 5 April 2024, the Ecuadorian police sanctioned a raid of the Mexican embassy in the capital city of Quito. The raid successfully captured and re-imprisoned former Ecuadorian Vice President, Jorge Glas, who had been seeking refuge and asylum in the Mexican embassy. Glas was wanted by the Ecuadorian police for corruption and embezzlement charges concerning rebuilding efforts from the earthquake Ecuador suffered in 2016, at the end of Glas’ natural term in office. Despite his alleged crimes, Glas was granted asylum by Mexico one week before the raid. Per the Vienna Convention, asylum granted Glas security within the Mexican embassy as the embassy serves as an extension of Mexico’s state sovereignty. Thus, the act of raiding the embassy comes as a direct threat to Mexico’s security. The raid followed heightened tensions between Mexico and Ecuador due to then Mexican president Andrés Manuel López-Obrador referring to past Ecuadorian elections as, “taking place in a very strange manner,” and suggesting presidential candidates used the media, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio’s assassination, and overall violence in their favor while campaigning.

The raid has drawn criticism throughout Latin America with Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, and Nicaragua releasing statements condemning the raid. Mexican officials reported the incident to the World Court and brought a case before the International Court of Justice to receive reparations for the threat to the country’s security. Currently, Glas has been transferred to a maximum security prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador where his status and safety are both considered precarious. The Mexican and Ecuadorian authorities are at odds on how to mitigate the situation and further deal with the repercussions. This is especially true in consideration of Glas’ prior crimes and the right of international bodies to protect fugitives who have been granted asylum. For reference, a British fugitive was housed for seven years in Ecuador’s embassy in London as the British authorities could not legally detain him without violating Ecuador’s right to sovereignty. Mexico has used this detail to point at Ecuador’s hypocrisy in invading its embassy, but has been unable to compel Ecuadorian officials to change their perspectives.

Roberto Canseco, Head of the Mexican Consular in Quito, referred to the incident as, “totally outside the norm, crazy, and without basis.” Ecuadorian President, Daniel Noboa, responded to these claims by stating that, “Ecuador is a sovereign nation and his government will not allow any criminal to stay free.”

The Ecuadorian government is using Jorge Glas as a political pawn to perpetuate the presidency of Noboa through a tough-on-crime position in the run-up to the presidential election. While Glas has been suspected of crimes, violating the sovereignty of the Mexican state by raiding its embassy was completely disproportionate to the suspicions the Ecuadorian government has against Glas. This only served to escalate tensions between Mexico, Ecuador, and the entire region of Latin America. There is also significant fear that Ecuador’s president is following in the footsteps of El Salvador’s President Bukele in consolidating power and breaking international laws to appear harder on crime. Ecuador was once considered a safe haven in Latin America, but then President López-Obrador’s comments point to an overwhelming fear throughout the region that the country is succumbing to the violence and governmental corruption that plague many of the other countries in the region. 

Ecuador’s response to Mexico granting Glas asylum was disproportionate to the proposed offense. This is especially true given that the Alternative Press collected several statements that indicate that a jail sentence in Ecuador is synonymous with death considering Ecuador has been experiencing an increase in gang and other violence in recent years which has overrun the infrastructure in prisons. Thus, the Ecuadorian government’s actions have not only violated international diplomatic law but have also knowingly put the life of a former governmental member at risk. Instead of addressing the tensions between Mexico and Ecuador or within the internal politics of Ecuador, this act has drawn out international and regional concerns. Countries throughout Latin America have condemned Ecuador for the raid and the U.S. government and different experts on Latin America within the U.S. have condemned the raid as well. Several other states, such as Nicaragua, have even gone so far as to remove diplomatic relations with Ecuador and diplomats have been seen fleeing the country via commercial jets. Mexico has undertaken aggressive methods in response to this. The country severed all diplomatic ties with Ecuador, diplomats have been flown out of the country, and there are pending cases against Ecuador with both the World Court and the International Court of Justice. This is not only due to the infringement on Mexican sovereignty but also due to the fact that several innocent diplomats were injured during the incident. In addition to this, Glas’ defense team has had to diligently fight not only for his release but also for due process as they were unable to interact with him during sentencing, thus they are filing a habeas corpus petition.

The hypocritical nature of Ecuador’s actions has also been under attack as WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, was housed in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years to evade arrest. This proves the validity that law enforcement agencies are unable to enter embassies without the express permission of the host country. Ecuador’s outrage at Mexico’s actions and their claim to the Alternative Press that Mexico acted in, “illegality to grant asylum to people convicted of common crimes by competent courts,” is false. The Mexican government’s next steps have been to contact Inter-American groups to receive help in rectifying the issue. It remains to be seen, however, the level of aid these organizations are willing to cede.

Mexico should continue petitioning the World Court and the International Court of Justice to rectify this issue on a global scale. These international bodies have the power within international law and the influence on the world stage to compel actors into amending their behavior. Ecuador has blatantly violated the Vienna Convention by raiding the Mexican embassy. Some of the consequences for this are the termination of diplomatic relations as has already been seen, as well as the expulsion of the offending party from its membership in international organizations. In this case, Mexico should continue removing its ambassadors from the country and other states within Latin America who should consider doing the same. Another consequence if this issue is not rectified is the threat of Ecuador’s expulsion from the Organization of American States (O.A.S.). These actions would isolate Ecuador and prove the international community’s distaste for the country’s recent actions. This would precipitate the freeing of Glas and further facilitate reparations between Mexico and Ecuador to re-establish diplomatic ties between Mexico and Ecuador principally, but also with the other outraged countries as well. The complaints to these international organizations should include all who were involved in the raid which would attack the action at all levels from the president’s office down to the local police who conducted the raid. This is especially pertinent given how aggressively the local police acted, injuring not only Glas himself but also the innocent diplomats in the Mexican embassy.

However, the actions on both sides fail to address the ambiguity between whether a crime officially occurred during Glas’ term as Vice President or if he truly is being politically persecuted by Noboa to consolidate power in the face of an upcoming election. It must be established via an independent investigation whether or not Glas is guilty of the crimes of which he is accused. If he is not guilty he should be immediately freed from prison. If he is considered guilty he should not be housed in the Guayaquil maximum-security prison that is volatile, overrun, and prone to riots that leave many dead. Instead, he should be moved to a smaller, more secure facility than Guayaquil. Ecuador must ensure that its president is not consolidating power in the face of the election cycle and independent auditors must ensure that international laws are not continuously broken. It is clear that Ecuador was willing to take drastic action to fulfill its endeavor, thus significant consequences must be provided as well so that the country does not abuse power at this level or blatantly disregard international rule in the future.