Maduro closes embassy in Ecuador until country “returns international law”

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered the closure of his embassy and consulates in Ecuador. All of the country's diplomats were immediately recalled to Venezuela “until international law is expressly restored by Ecuador.”

The order was given during the Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held this Tuesday (16), to address the invasion of the Mexican embassy by Ecuadorian police at the beginning of the month.

For Maduro, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa's defense of police action “is a direct threat to all countries that have embassies in Ecuador”. He said that the Ecuadorian president was proud of the invasion and called the attitude “arrogant” and “arrogant”.

The invasion of the Mexican embassy aimed to arrest the former vice president of Ecuador, Jorge Glas, convicted in the country for corruption, who ended up being taken, despite resistance from Mexican officials, to a penitentiary in Guayaquil.

Maduro said that the former vice president must be “returned” to the Mexican embassy, ​​his political asylum must be recognized and safe conduct must be granted so that he can leave the country “to recover his physical health from the 'torture' In Mexico”.

For Noboa, the asylum granted by Mexico to the politician is “illegal”, since Glas is convicted of a common crime and, according to him, the privilege could not have been granted. The position, however, is isolated in the international community, which repudiated the episode.

Last week, the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution condemning the invasion and reaffirming “the obligation of all States to guarantee respect for the privileges and immunities of diplomatic missions and the principle of inviolability, in accordance with international law, as a fundamental and crucial requirement for peaceful relations between countries”. The only vote against the resolution was from Ecuador itself.

Following Maduro's order, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that Maduro initiated actions “to support Mexico's proposal in the request for Ecuador's expulsion from the UN and in its complaint presented to the International Court of Justice”.