Venezuela closes embassy in Ecuador to protest raid on Mexican Embassy in Quito
President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the closure of Venezuela's embassy and consulates in Ecuador following a raid by local authorities on the Mexican embassy in Quito.
MEXICO CITY — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of his country’s embassy and consulates in Ecuador on Tuesday in solidarity with Mexico in its protest over a raid by Ecuadorian authorities on the Mexican embassy in Quito.
Maduro and other presidents participating in a virtual meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States expressed their support for Mexico’s request to have the United Nations suspend Ecuador from the world body over the April 5 raid. But Maduro was the only one to announce the recall of a diplomatic mission.
“The condemnation has been unanimous, total, absolute,” Maduro said, referring to the backlash Ecuador’s move has drawn. “No one today in this world comes out to defend this barbaric act.”
Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa had ordered authorities to raid the Mexican diplomatic outpost to arrest the country’s former Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive who was holed up at the embassy since December. Mexico granted him asylum hours before the raid.
Police try to break into the Mexican Embassy in Quito, Ecuador, on April 5 after Mexico granted asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought refuge there.Dolores Ochoa / APThe extraordinarily unusual use of force drew immediate condemnation from governments around the world, because diplomatic premises are considered foreign soil and “inviolable” under the Vienna treaties.
Rating: 5