The raid on the Mexican embassy in Ecuador caused a worldwide scandal. Many countries already consider this move by Kito as a gross violation of the Vienna Convention. The allegations are made against Ecuador's 36-year-old president, Daniel Noboa, personally. According to political observers, this unpleasant situation for Quito will not be resolved by an apology alone.
It should be recalled that on April 5, the Ecuadorian police raided the building of the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former vice president Jorge Glass. Mexican diplomats said that embassy employees were injured during the raid. Equator explained the actions of law enforcement officers by the fact that X. Glas could have left the country at any time. As soon as he entered the diplomatic mission in December 2023, he immediately applied for political asylum. Mexico granted the former vice president's asylum offer on April 5. After that, Kito decided to take a decisive step.

However, this decision of the Ecuadorian authorities caused a great and not pleasant resonance for President Daniel Noboa. Brazil, the largest country in Latin America, condemned the actions of the Ecuadorian authorities. The US made a statement in the same tone, although it was more reserved. Nicaragua has gone further. He, like Mexico, has suspended diplomatic relations with Ecuador. It is true that the relations of Mexico and Nicaragua with Ecuador were not good until this incident. Back in 2020, the Nicaraguan authorities recalled the ambassador of Ecuador, considering the actions of the authorities at that time unfriendly. The Mexican ambassador was recently declared persona non grata by the initiative of Ecuador. The reason for this was the statements of Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador about the leadership of Ecuador.
Rafael Correa, the former president of Ecuador, who lives in Belgium, said in an interview to "France24" that Mexico officially has the right to declare war on Quito. After all, it was a gross violation of the Vienna Convention on the inviolability of the diplomatic mission. He assured the journalists that X. Glas is an honest politician who has become a victim of false accusations. In fact, this assessment of the former president is not surprising. Because X. Glas was a minister during R. Correa's time, and then vice president. R. Correa led the country in 2007-2017. Immediately after the change of power, X. Glas was found guilty of accepting bribes. He was in prison in 2017-2022. After his release, new charges were brought against X. Glass, which forced him to turn to the Mexicans. By the way, Mexico also gave shelter to another official of R. Correa's era, Ricardo Patinho. He fled his country to Mexico in 2018 after being accused of calling for a violent coup.

By the way, it was during the presidency of R. Correa that Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for many years. He was handed over to British justice only under the new president, Lenin Moreno. And now, the Ecuadorian authorities have violated the Vienna Convention, which they strictly observed for years in relation to the Assange case. According to analysts, such a gross violation of international law is probably due to R. Noboa's inexperience. Political observers argue that this unpleasant situation will not be resolved by an apology, and relations with Mexico, as well as other countries, will remain strained for a long time.
In general, Mexico has historically provided asylum to those who suffered political persecution. For example, the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, found refuge in Mexico City. Mexico once sheltered Leon Trotsky. The country's government at that time succumbed to the pressure of the USSR. Mexico preferred to ignore the prospects for establishing relations with Moscow rather than hand over L. Trotsky.
Political analysts say that X. Glas is not just a retired official. He is quite a popular politician.

For example, X. Glas could have been a presidential candidate in last year's elections. However, R. Correa's "Citizen Revolution" party chose to trust Luisa Gonzalez, not him. Although he was the favorite in the second round, he lost to Daniel Noboa, who later became known as the son of an influential father. Alvaro Noboa, D. Noboa's father, is considered the richest person in the country. Before the victory, the son of Ecuador's richest man was practically unknown to the general public. He has no experience in government work, and his economic knowledge is limited to his family's business. Noboa does not represent the interests of any party and does not have a clear political position. At the same time, his statements about his intention to reduce taxes for the poor, improve the social conditions of young people and pensioners, and encourage foreign investments to improve the economy allow him to be tentatively considered a center-right.
Regarding the attack on the embassy, ​​political scientists remind that even military dictatorships tried not to touch embassies. It is true that there was such a precedent in Latin American countries. For example, the Peruvian embassy in Havana was raided while providing shelter to fugitive Cubans. It is interesting that now Cuba is criticizing D. Noboa for the raid on the Ecuadorian embassy.
S. ELAY
XQ