Mexico releases video of Ecuador's raid on its embassy

A military vehicle transports former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas from the detention center where he was held after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest him in Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, April 6, 2024. Glas, who held the vice presidency of Ecuador between 2013 and 2018, was convicted of corruption and had been taking refuge in the embassy since December. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa).

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico released security camera video Tuesday of the moments when Ecuadorian authorities forced their way into Mexico’s embassy, pushed a Mexican diplomat to the ground and carried out Ecuador’s former vice president who had been holed up there.

The action Friday night greatly escalated tensions between the two countries, which since ex-Vice President Jorge Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive, took refuge at Mexico’s embassy in December.

Ecuadorian police scaled the embassy walls and broke into the building Friday. Roberto Canseco, Mexico’s head of consular affairs and the highest ranking diplomat present since Ecuador expelled the ambassador earlier in the week, tried to keep them from entering, even pushing a large cabinet in front of a door.

But police restrained him and pushed him to the floor as they carried Glas out.

Mexico, as well as experts, say it appeared to be a blatant violation of international accords. Leaders across Latin America condemned Ecuador’s actions as a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

At his daily news briefing Tuesday, Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador played the security video and said it showed the “authoritarian and vile” way police had raided the embassy.

López Obrador criticized North American allies Canada and the United States for what he said was not speaking out forcefully enough against the raid. Mexico has said it plans to file a formal complaint with the International Court of Justice.

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