2024 raid on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador

On 5 April 2024, the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, was raided by Ecuadorian police and military forces. Mexico and many other countries criticized the raid as a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum.

The raid was carried out to arrest the former Vice President of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, who had been sentenced for corruption and had been living in the embassy since 17 December 2023. A few hours before the attack, he had given political asylum.

The raid led Mexico ending its relations with Ecuador. The following day, Nicaragua also ended their relations with Ecuador, showing their support to Mexico.

A few days before the attack, the President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, talked about Luisa González, the presidential candidate of the pro-Rafael Correa Citizen Revolution Movement in a press conference. He said how she had a lead in polling for the 2023 Ecuadorian general election and how after the murder of Fernando Villavicencio her polling numbers had dropped, saying that the assassination had affected the election results. After the comments, Ecuadorian officials declared the Mexican ambassador to Ecuador as a persona non grata.

After the raid, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa supported the raid and said it was a matter of national security. He also wished to fix any relations with Mexico, but said that he would not support sending former Vice President Glas to Mexico. Mexico also announced plans to take Ecuador to the International Court of Justice for violations of international law.

References

Category:2024 crimes
Category:Crime in South America
Category:April 2024 events
Category:2020s in Ecuador
Category:2024 in South America
Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in the 2020s
Category:Quito
Category:2024 controversies