Mexico is again immersed in a diplomatic crisis after President Andrés Manuel López Obrador exchanged words with the President of Argentina, Javier Milei. This time, the impasse is with Ecuador, whose Foreign Ministry asked the Mexican ambassador in Quito this Thursday to leave the South American country after declaring them "persona non grata."
The request from the Ecuadorian government comes after Andrés Manuel López Obrador, president of Mexico, suggested that President Daniel Noboa had come to power thanks to the assassination of former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
The statements, described as "very unfortunate" by Ecuador, received a forceful rebuke from the Noboa administration.
"It is a measure provided for by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and that implies that the ambassador must leave the country within a short period of time. It does not mean breaking diplomatic relations," the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said.
"Ecuador is still mourning for that unfortunate event that caused shock in Ecuadorian society and threatened democracy, peace and security. The country continues to face transnational organized crime, which threatens the State, its democratic institutions and its population."
La Cancillería del Ecuador informa: pic.twitter.com/68L06w8tiF
— Cancillería del Ecuador 🇪🇨 (@CancilleriaEc) April 4, 2024
The Ecuadorian reaction came after López Obrador said on his morning program known as the "mañaneras" that Noboa only defeated his opponent, Luisa González, the candidate of socialist president Rafael Correa, because of the murder of Villavicencio.
"There were elections in Ecuador, the candidate of the progressive forces was up, about 10 points… Then, a candidate who speaks badly of the candidate who is at the top is suddenly assassinated, and the candidate who was at the top falls, and the candidate who was in second place ascends," said López Obrador, who maintains good relations with Correa and González.
"Creating a rarefied atmosphere of violence, to the extent that the candidates — and this is reported by all the media — with vests to the debates. But everything is armed. Well, the candidate did not win and the most unfortunate thing is that the violence continues, that they just used the moment," said the president, generating a new diplomatic crisis with a South American government.
This conflict between countries comes just a month after Ecuador asked Mexico for its law enforcement forces to enter the diplomatic house in Quito to capture former vice president Jorge Glas.
Glas took refuge in the Mexican Embassy to avoid prison after being convicted of corruption during the Correa government. The Prosecutor's Office is also investigating him on other charges.
However, Mexico did not allow Ecuadorian authorities to enter the Embassy, ensuring that police action would "violate the diplomatic immunity of our embassies."
Likewise, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said that her country is evaluating Glas's asylum request, which has not yet been approved or rejected.
