It was bad enough last week when Israel assassinated several high-ranking Iranian generals through an airstrike against Iran’s Consulate in Syria (though at least both Iran and Syria could be considered proper enemies of Israel), but what Ecuador just did on Friday is almost unbelievable — they violated the diplomatic immunity of Mexico’s Embassy in Quito to forcibly arrest a former VP who had sought refuge there back in December, and had just been granted political asylum by Mexico that very day!
Needless to say, while this doesn’t seem to have been covered here yet, it has caused a diplomatic firestorm not just in Latin America, but around the world for this most flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention in safeguarding the sanctity of diplomatic missions. As reported in Al Jazeera:
Governments across Latin America have rallied around Mexico after security forces in Ecuador stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest a controversial politician who had been granted political asylum there.
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela sharply rebuked Ecuador on Saturday, hours after the seizure of Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge Glas, with Nicaragua joining Mexico in severing diplomatic ties with Quito.
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Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blasted the unusual diplomatic incursion and arrest as an “authoritarian” act as well as a breach of international law and Mexico’s sovereignty, while the government of Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa argued asylum protections were illegal because of the corruption charges Glas is facing.
Still, under international law, embassies are considered the sovereign territory of the country they represent, and the Vienna Convention, which governs international relations, states that a country cannot intrude upon an embassy on its territory.
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, said he was “alarmed” by the raid, and urged both sides to show moderation in resolving the dispute, according to a spokesman.
The Washington-based Organization of American States also issued a call for dialogue to resolve the escalating dispute, adding in a statement that a session of the body’s permanent council will be convened to discuss the need for “strict compliance with international treaties, including those that guarantee the right to asylum”.