The diplomatic crisis over police raid The Mexican embassy in Ecuador reached the Legislature on Wednesday, where at least three ministers were summoned to explain the events.
The incidents between the ruling party and the opposition marked a hectic session in which the party with the largest bench in the Assembly, the Citizen Revolution of former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), would question the ministers for the raid on the Mexican embassy in the that one of its members was arrested, former vice president Jorge Glasaccused of corruption and who had received political asylum from Mexico.
The legislators exchanged accusations amid shouts and constant interruptions to the initial interventions of the assembly members, prior to the ministers' statement, which forced the president of the International Relations Commission, Jonathan Parra, to warn them that they could be removed by safety.
In her speech, the Minister of the Interior, Mónica Palencia, vindicated her status as a dual Ecuadorian-Mexican citizen and rejected the voices that call her a “traitor to the country” for the government's decision to raid the Mexican embassy.
The minister admitted that at the end of February, as the highest authority of the police and due to a current arrest warrant issued by a judge against Glas, she asked the foreign ministry to formally ask the Mexican embassy to hand over the former vice president or authorize the entry of the police “for purposes of arrest.”
Given Mexico's refusal, Palencia said that his position was not to insist and let the issue be addressed through diplomatic channels.
After the incident at the embassy, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, who also responded to the call of the legislative commission, had justified that the raid was arranged by President Daniel Noboa faced with “an imminent risk of flight” from Glas and after having exhausted, he assured, all possibilities for diplomatic dialogue with Mexico.
After Palencia's intervention, new and heated incidents occurred when the appearance of the Minister of Defense, Gian Carlo Loffredo, was expected, and due to the decision that the session be reserved, so his intervention and that of Chancellor Sommerfeld were not public .
Parra rejected the behavior of the legislators and explained that the session should be declared reserved given that documented information would be received that for “national security” cannot be open to the public.
On April 5, the Ecuadorian police entered the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in Quito and captured former Vice President Glas, which led to a majority condemnation and a call to international forums where the violation of international standards by Ecuador.
After Glas' arrest, Revolución Ciudadana called for the resignation of Ecuadorian President Noboa and announced a radical opposition in the Legislature.
Glas, 54, was transferred to a prison in Guayaquil, where he must complete his sentence for two cases of corruption. In addition, he is being investigated and has a preventive detention order for a case of alleged embezzlement in the management of resources for reconstruction works in two provinces that suffered a devastating earthquake in 2016.
On Thursday, Mexico will present a complaint against Ecuador for the violent entry into its embassy before the International Court of Justice.
The raid by the Ecuadorian police forces on the Mexican embassy in Quito has been condemned by thirty countries in the region and Europe and eight international organizations, including the Organization of American States (OAS).
After the violent entry of the Ecuadorian security forces into the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in Quito, the Mexican government broke relations with Ecuador and ordered the indefinite closure of its embassy and the withdrawal of all diplomatic personnel while transferring the consular services it had. in Ecuador to its diplomatic missions in Colombia, Peru and Chile.
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