A rift between Mexico and Ecuador is growing, with a series of diplomatic provocations this week that culminated in Ecuador rejecting Mexico’s ambassador to the country, and Mexico announcing that it would offer asylum to a wanted Ecuadorean politician.
Mexican Ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke was declared “persona non grata” in Ecuador on Thursday after Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appeared to criticize Ecuador’s recent elections.
Ecuador’s 2023 run-off vote took place in a “very strange” manner, Lopez Obrador said, suggesting that presidential candidates used the media, candidate Fernando Villavicencio’s assassination, and overall violence in their favor while campaigning.
In a statement posted on X, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry called Lopez Obrador’s comments “unfortunate” and said the country is still mourning Villavicencio’s assassination. It also reiterated its focus on ensuring “respect for the dignity and sovereignty of the Ecuadorian State” and “non-intervention in the internal affairs of other States.”
Diplomatic relations are expected to remain open between the two countries. However, a press release by the Mexican Foreign Ministry on Friday lamented the Ecuadorean decision as “disproportionate” and announced that Mexico had decided to grant political asylum to Ecuador’s former Vice President Jorge David Glas Espinel – a move that Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfield quickly slammed as “interference in internal affairs.”
Glas served under leftist ex-President Rafael Correa between 2013 and 2017. Convicted twice on corruption charges, Glas says that he is the subject of political persecution, and has been sheltering inside the Mexican Embassy in Quito, according to Reuters.