Mexico cuts ties with Ecuador after embassy storming in Quito
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00:00 Heavily armed police guard the Ecuadorian prosecutor's office all night.
00:06 As the political dispute between Mexico and Ecuador deepens, Mexico's President López
00:12 Obrador instructed his foreign minister to sever diplomatic ties with Quito.
00:17 "Mexico announces the immediate suspension of diplomatic relations with Ecuador.
00:24 In this sense, Mexican diplomatic personnel in Ecuador will leave the country immediately.
00:29 Mexico expects Ecuador to offer the necessary guarantees for the departing Mexican diplomatic
00:34 personnel.
00:36 Mexico will appeal to the International Court of Justice to hold Ecuador accountable for
00:39 violations of international law."
00:44 Ecuadorian authorities stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito on Friday and seized Ecuador's
00:49 former Vice President Jorge Glas, who had been seeking refuge there since December.
00:54 He was released from prison in November and had been seeking political asylum at the Mexican
00:59 embassy which was formally granted on Friday.
01:02 Convicted twice for corruption, Jorge Glas served under leftist President Rafael Correa
01:08 and is the most wanted man in Ecuador.
01:11 In a statement, the Ecuadorian president stressed that Jorge Glas would not be allowed to get
01:16 away.
01:17 "Having abused the immunities and privileges granted to the diplomatic mission that housed
01:23 Jorge Glas and granting diplomatic asylum contrary to the conventional legal framework,
01:29 we proceed to seize him.
01:32 Ecuador is a sovereign country and we are not going to allow any criminal to go unpunished."
01:36 Earlier in the week, tensions had already escalated between the Latin American neighbours
01:43 after Mexico's president made provocative comments on Ecuador's presidential election
01:48 last year and the assassination of a presidential candidate.
01:52 Quito retaliated by declaring the Mexican ambassador to Ecuador persona non grata, forcing
01:57 her to leave the country.