Latin American presidents will discuss this Tuesday (04/16/2024) possible sanctions against Ecuador due to… Attack on the Mexican embassyThis was during a virtual summit held by Honduras, in which Venezuela announced the closure of its diplomatic headquarters in Quito.
Led by Honduran President Xiomara Castro, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit suspended its public broadcast for a special discussion of the proposed declaration approved by foreign ministers on April 9, 2024, which condemns the attack and imposes sanctions on Ecuador.
Castro said in a speech in which he, like other leaders, described the police attack on the Mexican embassy on April 5 to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas as “brutal.”
Mexico's governor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, called for an “evil act” such as the attack on the diplomatic mission not to be committed again, and suggested that his country accompany it by “signing the complaint at the International Court of Justice.”
The President of Ecuador did not attend the meeting. Daniel NoboaWho was represented by Chancellor Gabriella Somerfeld.
Faced with potential divisions over unanimous approval of sanctions and condemnation, Colombia's President, Gustavo Petro, has spoken in favor of not requiring unanimity for decisions in the bloc.
Petro said the attack on the embassy caused “unrest, even global,” that governments should pay attention to. “Barbarism could penetrate our continent,” he warned.
He added that “Ecuador violated the American agreement” because it “violated the right to asylum and the right to due process.”
The horrific operation in Quito to arrest Glass led López Obrador to immediately sever diplomatic relations with Ecuador. Nicaragua did so the next day.
During the meeting, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the closure of the Venezuelan embassy in Ecuador and the consulates in Quito and Guayaquil.
“Let the diplomatic personnel return to Venezuela immediately (…) until international law is explicitly restored in Ecuador,” he said.
“Absolute solidarity”
Maduro expressed his “absolute solidarity” with Lopez Obrador. He told her: “Mexico is not alone, but the Voice of America accompanies it in circumstances that it did not seek.”
“There is no doubt” that President Noboa’s decision “to assault Mexico’s territory, its embassy, to beat its diplomatic staff, in front of the world, live and live on social networks, to arrest, to bind, is tormenting.” Former Vice President Jorge Glass “It was a barbaric act.”
For his part, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel expressed that the “violent invasion” of the Mexican embassy “is an unacceptable act of hostility and deserves categorical rejection.”
Some presidents requested that Glass' refugee status be reinstated and that Ecuador grant him safe passage so he could leave the country.
president of brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da SilvaThey proposed creating a committee to review Glass's health, a topic in a draft of the declaration they were discussing privately.
On Monday, April 8, the Ecuadorian President announced his readiness to “resolve any dispute” with Mexico, but warned that “justice is not negotiated.”
Glass took refuge in the Mexican embassy in December 2023, before the court issued an order to imprison him on corruption charges during his period as the right-hand man of former President Rafael Correa (2007-17).
mg (AFP, AFP)
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