Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Ol'ga Kuznetsova
[REGNUM] When, on the evening of April 5, military equipment began to arrive at the Mexican Embassy in Quito, observers, of course, thought that something at least interesting was being prepared. But it was somehow inconvenient to assume that President Daniel Noboa would risk ordering an assault on a foreign mission. After all, 2024 is just around the corner. Although, if you look at things more objectively, by 2024, everyday naivety will have long been out of trend, as will international law.
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As a result, everyone watched as Ecuadorian security forces in black uniforms flashed an ominous shadow against the background of the embassy fence - and Mexican Charge d'Affaires Roberto Canseco rolled on the ground, trying to stop one of them. At the same time, everyone on social networks and news channels vied with each other to quote Article 22 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
The one that declares the premises of a foreign mission inviolable.
THE WORK OF THE VOICE
One would expect that there was a reason for such extraordinary actions by the Ecuadorian side.
The main goal was the arrest and detention of Jorge Glas, Vice President of Ecuador from 2013 to 2017, under the government of President Rafael Correa. He lost his post after being accused of receiving bribes from the Brazilian concern Odebreht and transferring to it government contracts for the construction of facilities in the Amazon.
By the way, the “Odebreht case”, initiated at one time by the US Department of Justice in cooperation with law enforcement agencies of Brazil and Switzerland, became “the largest anti-corruption operation in history”, made it possible to establish the issuance of bribes in the amount of $778 million and find the culprits among politicians and businessmen 12 countries
The clarification of all the circumstances, bringing to justice and the search for those responsible in this case continue to this day.
As for Jorge Glas, he has already been convicted twice on corruption charges and spent more than four years in prison until 2022, when he received new charges of misuse of funds collected to eliminate the consequences of an earthquake in one of the provinces.
In December 2023, Glass's lawyers filed an appeal, demanding that the former vice president be released from prison because his life could be in danger. However, the demands were refused, and Glas hid in the Mexican embassy in Quito, asking for political asylum.
The Mexican authorities considered his request for several months and gave their positive response on April 5, 2024. After the Ecuadorian authorities declared the Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke persona non grata and ordered her to leave the country in the near future.
At the beginning of March, the Ecuadorian side sent a request to the official Mexico City to enter the embassy and arrest Glas, which was refused. After the announcement of the ambassador's expulsion, no one asked.
BANANA PRECEDENT
The actions of Daniel Noboa's government immediately caused outrage in the region. And the so-called “left” countries that supported Mexico - Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba, Brazil, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Chile, and the “right” countries - Argentina, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The Honduran authorities even initiated an emergency meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (CELAC) to discuss this situation.
In this case, such unity is not too surprising; the young leader Daniel Noboa allowed himself to be too scandalous, surpassing, according to some experts, even the Latin American dictators of the past in his extravagance.
And if any of the leaders of the pro-American countries in the region understands in principle the intention to imprison an official from a team of rival politicians (and Correa’s associates, including the former presidential candidate and Noboa’s main competitor, Luisa Gonzalez, still have a certain political weight), then here is an open assault the foreign embassy, during which diplomats also suffered, no longer exists.
Noboa’s actions were not understood in Ecuador itself - political activists and the opposition, led by the same Luisa Gonzalez and Rafael Correa, immediately began to use the situation for their own purposes.
Former President Correa apologized to Mexico for what happened, and Gonzalez said that Noboa was plunging the country into an international scandal on his own initiative and should be impeached in an amicable way. Also, associates of Jorge Glas demanded to know the condition of the official, who was redirected under heavy security to one of the prisons in Guayaquil and apparently beaten.
There were those who expressed themselves less aggressively towards the current government of Ecuador, but were still seriously concerned about the possible consequences of breaking diplomatic relations with Mexico.
They recalled, in particular, other international scandals provoked by Noboa.
For example, the suspension of supplies of bananas and flowers to Russia after the public intention to transfer Russian and Soviet military equipment to the United States for subsequent transfer to Ukraine.
The current situation looks more serious: the severance of diplomatic relations implies the cessation of economic contacts, supplies and the cancellation of all previous agreements. It is still difficult to imagine the amount of potential financial losses for businesses, as well as possible “measures of solidarity with Mexico” on the part of other South American countries.
Some activists even expressed concern that the current situation would give Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador a reason to declare war on Ecuador. He is currently threatening official Quito with an appeal to the International Court of Justice.
IN DEFENSE OF SOVEREIGNTY
The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry claims that the actions that led to the storming of the foreign embassy were justified by the defense of sovereignty.
Mexico, you see, did not have the right to provide asylum to a criminal; it itself violated the Vienna Convention and interfered in the internal affairs of another state. And in general, diplomatic immunity and privileges in this case worked “against the rule of law,” because they “created a risk of escape for the convicted person.”
The argumentation seems rather weak - apparently, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry also realized this, because at the moment the statement was announced, armored vehicles were pulled towards the building.
The question of the legality of granting asylum to a particular person is indeed extremely complex and most often in each case the country makes a decision individually, depending on the political weather outside the window.
For example, a similar argument about the inadmissibility of harboring a criminal in an embassy has already been used by the UK against Ecuador itself in the case of harboring Julian Assange in that country’s representative office in London. The argument didn't work.
And even if it worked, it does not give the right to invade the territory of a foreign state (this is precisely the status of a diplomatic mission).
The US reaction to the incident has so far been quite cautious - the State Department condemned “ any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”, but has not yet publicly stigmatized US citizen Daniel Noboa or come out with special support for Mexico.
In the Latin American region, Washington generally acts rather restrainedly and mostly behind the scenes, unless, of course, we are talking about the usual group of “outcasts” in the person of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. So it is possible that Noboa was nevertheless asked for an explanation.
DO YOU WANT IT LIKE IN ECUADOR?
There are also theories that the whole situation was provoked by a personal outburst by Noboa, who could not stand the words of the Mexican President during a press conference.
On it, Obrador recalled the murder of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, and compared this situation with the increase in violence in Mexico itself, where the election campaign began and the crime situation worsened.
According to the Mexican president, such cases lead to a “tense atmosphere of violence” and suggested that at one time the Ecuadorian corrupt media harassed presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez depriving her of her chances of winning. In this regard, media owners must understand their responsibility in such difficult times.
Drawing such analogies, Obrador addressed mostly the heads of some media in Mexico, who regularly publish materials about him, and of an extremely impartial nature. In Ecuador, they considered Obrador’s statements to be hints that Noboa is connected with Villavicencio’s killers and demanded the ambassador’s expulsion from the country.
So far, judging by the possible consequences for Ecuador itself, the situation really looks like the result of a rash decision. Even with an admixture of personal hostility and the desire to assert oneself - by the way, not the most impossible option, which has flashed before in world history.
It is possible that Noboa’s actions pursued some intelligent and politically far-sighted goal, but it is not yet clear what.
One way or another, over the next week the approximate scale of the consequences of this trick will become clear both for Ecuador and for the reputation of Noboa himself.
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