The World Briefly
April 18, 2024All For One
Ecuador
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Venezuela and Honduras took diplomatic actions against Ecuador this week in response to a recent police raid at Mexico’s embassy in the Ecuadorian capital Quito earlier this month, Al Jazeera reported.
On Tuesday, Honduran Foreign Relations Minister Enrique Reina announced his country had recalled its charge d’affaires from Ecuador to consult on the police raid. Separately, Venezuela said it would close its embassy and consulates in Ecuador because of the raid.
The announcements marked an escalation of a diplomatic row between Mexico and Ecuador: On April 5, Ecuadorian authorities raided Mexico’s embassy in Quito to detain former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.
Glas had been sheltering in the Mexican embassy since December to avoid arrest and imprisonment over corruption-related charges.
But the police action received criticism from legal analysts and other Latin American nations as a violation of international law.
Embassies and consulates are protected under international law from unauthorized entry by local law enforcement.
Following the raid, Mexico responded by severing ties with Ecuador and recalling its embassy staff from the country. It also filed a complaint at the International Court of Justice calling for Ecuador’s removal from the United Nations, pending an apology for the embassy incident.
Honduran officials called the raid “a disastrous precedent,” while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro described it as an “act of barbarism.”
Meanwhile, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa defended the decision as necessary for upholding national security and pursuing justice.
Even so, a three-member tribunal in Ecuador found that the raid was arbitrary and illegal – although it still upheld Glas’ imprisonment.
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