Spain condemns Ecuador raid of Mexico embassy

A young man paints a graffiti against Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa during a protest outside the Ecuadorian embassy in Mexico City on 6 April 2024, following the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Ecuadorian authorities stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito on 5 April to arrest former vice president Jorge Glas, who had been granted political asylum there, prompting Mexico to sever diplomatic ties after the "violation of international law". Yuri CORTEZ / AFP

Spain on Sunday condemned the raid carried out by Ecuadoran security forces at Mexico's embassy in Quito to arrest graft-accused former vice president Jorge Glas and called for "respect for international law".

"The forced entry into the Mexican Embassy in Quito is a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We call for respect for international law and concord between Mexico and Ecuador, sister countries of Spain and members of the Ibero-American community," the foreign ministry said in a statement

The 1961 Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations state that the diplomatic or consular premises "shall be inviolable". But it also says the premises should not be used in any way that is "incompatible" with diplomatic and consular functions.

Glas sought refuge in the Mexican embassy last December after an arrest warrant was issued against him for alleged corruption, in a move that Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa's government branded an "illicit act".

Special forces equipped with a battering ram on Friday surrounded the embassy, and at least one agent scaled the walls, in an almost unheard-of raid on diplomatic premises that are considered inviolable sovereign territory.