By Abiola Olawale
The diplomatic feud between Ecuador and Mexico keeps escalating as the former has dragged the latter to a United Nations top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over granting asylum to its former vice president, Jorge Glas.
This comes after the Mexican authorities, on April 11, had slammed a lawsuit against Ecuador following the alleged storming of its Embassy in Quito to arrest a former vice president who had just been granted asylum.
Mexico, in its legal filing, is seeking the World Court to order Ecuador to take “appropriate and immediate steps to provide full protection and security of diplomatic premises” and prevent any further intrusions. It also wants Ecuador to let Mexico clear its diplomatic premises and the homes of its diplomats in the country.
It would be recalled that on April 5, Ecuadorian police reportedly scaled the embassy’s fence and burst through its doors to arrest Jorge Glas, a former vice president, wanted over an alleged corruption case.
He had been sheltering in Mexico’s Embassy since December. His arrest, however, came just hours after Mexico offered him political asylum.
Since the reported raid, many diplomats have knocked the Ecuadorian authorities, saying the country allegedly violated international law, which protects embassies from the interference of local law enforcement.
However, Ecuador, in its defense said Glas was wanted on corruption convictions and not for political reasons and has argued that Mexico granting asylum to a convicted criminal was itself a violation of the Vienna Convention.
In a filing initiated before the International Court of Justices, Ecuador accused Mexico of using its embassy to “shield Mr. Glas from enforcement by Ecuador of its criminal law” and argued that the actions “constituted, among other things, a blatant misuse of the premises of a diplomatic mission.”
Ecuador argued that the actions of Mexico “breached the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states”. The country further asked the court to rule that Mexico’s actions breached several international conventions.
It would be recalled that Glas served as vice president in the administration of former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.
But his tenure, which started in 2013, came to an end under Correa’s successor, Lenin Moreno. In 2017, less than three months into Moreno’s term, he stripped Glas of his duties as vice president.
Months later, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in the Odebrecht scandal, a corruption case that enveloped politicians across the region.
Glas was accused of accepting bribes in exchange for awarding Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company.
