Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday the closure of all Venezuelan diplomatic representations in Ecuador to protest against the police raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice-president.
“I have given orders to close our embassy in Ecuador, the consulate in Quito, the consulate in Guayaquil and that diplomatic personnel in Venezuela return immediately (…) until international law is expressly restored in Ecuador,” Mr. Maduro launched from Caracas during the virtual summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The intrusion, on April 5, of Ecuadorian police officers into the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest Jorge Glas – on an arrest warrant for alleged embezzlement – caused the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Quito and an international outcry.
Ecuadorian justice itself described the arrest of Mr. Glas as “illegal and arbitrary”, who will nevertheless remain in prison to serve previous sentences and await a court decision.
Mr. Glas took refuge in the Mexican embassy in December, before the courts ordered his incarceration for corruption when he was the right-hand man of former President Rafael Correa.
Mr. Maduro criticized Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa for defending the raid: “President Noboa’s statements are, more than an act of provocation against Mexico, an act of provocation against international law and an absolute disregard for the entire legal framework.
At the same time, in Venezuela, six opposition leaders, accused of “destabilizing actions” against the Maduro government, have taken refuge in the Argentine embassy in Caracas. A highly placed source from the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs confided on April 5 that these leaders would “benefit from safe conduct (…) on an exceptional basis for humanitarian reasons.”
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