Ecuadorian police break into Mexican embassy in Quito as diplomatic rift between countries deepens

By The Associated Press on April 5, 2024.

Soldiers and police stand guard outside the Mexican embassy, in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024. Ecuador on Thursday declared Mexico's ambassador to Quito persona non grata due to recent statements made by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador regarding Ecuador's 2023 presidential elections. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) – Ecuadorian police officers on Friday forcibly broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito, where former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas is holed up. The raid took place hours after the Mexican government granted Glas political asylum as diplomatic tensions between both countries deepen.

The police broke the external doors of the Mexican diplomatic headquarters in the Ecuadorian capital and entered the main patio.

The situation of former Vice President Glas was not immediately known. Uniformed officers closed the main access avenue to the site.

The Mexican embassy in Quito remained under heavy police guard late Friday.

A day earlier, tensions between the two countries escalated after Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel LÃ³pez Obrador made statements that Ecuador considered “very unfortunate” about the last elections in which the Ecuadorian president Daniel Noboa won.

In reaction, the Ecuadorian government declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata.

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