By Ricardo Lezama Like Israel, Ecuador has openly flaunted international law for storming the Mexican embassy with Special Forces in order to arrest a political enemy requesting asylum. Unlike the small vassal of US military and economic subsidies and foreign policy, Ecuador does not have the military and economic power to thwart a Mexican response. Perhaps, even Israel would not ingress in a Mexican embassy this explicitly, though they have certainly spied on political elements.
Context
Ever since the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate was very loosely tied to the Sinaloa Cartel, the current far-right Ecuadorian government has sought to connect everything to this drug trafficking organization, and, in the most jingoist and non-sensical way, to the Mexican government.
Mexico has taken a stand on particular issues sensitive to most LATAM executive leaders. For instance, when Peru’s far right congress began to pressure the former president of Peru, Pedro Castillo and his family, Mexico granted him asylum. In some news outlets, the position of the Peruvian congress is not questioned despite the mounting evidence that the leadership of Castillo was the victim of a coup.
AMLO Comments on Ecuador Lead To Stupid Reaction From Ecuadorian Government, Proving Point
Specifically, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has cited the lack of media attention towards political assassinations and jingoism in the Mexican press. He used Ecuador as an example of a presidential candidate killed under suspicious circumstances which led, ultimately, to the current presidential leadership of Ecuador getting elected. The media there was silent as was the Mexican press with respect to local political assassinations.
The Ecuadorian government took offense, and quickly declared Mexico’s ambassador persona non grata.
As Mexico’s ambassador to Ecuador, Raquel Serur Smeke, prepared her plane for departure, Jorge Glaz, the former vice president of Rafael Correa was also seeking asylum at that Quito embassy in question, which led to a standoff in front of Mexico’s Quito embassy.
The standoff then led to a raid, justified by the Ecuadorian government on the stupid premise that Mexico, not Ecuador, was breaking international convention for harboring an alleged criminal. However, international convention permits for grace between what one country considers a crime and what one country considers a politically motivated charge. The nuance was lost on Ecuador’s leadership who have now devolved into a federated province with the action, not a country with regional standing.
The Raid
A clear abuse of physical power could be seen during the raid. The fact that Ecuador’s current president considers this a useful avenue is concerning. Late Friday, Ecuadorian Special Forces began the raid to extract their former Vice President who is charged with accepting a drug trafficking bribe, but with this current methodology, is more clearly seen as a political target.
