Mexico will not break diplomatic ties with Ecuador, says president

MEXICO CITY

After Ecuador's government ordered Mexico's ambassador to the country, Raquel Serur Smeke, to leave, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Friday that his government would not break diplomatic ties with Ecuador.

The Mexican ambassador's ouster came after Lopez Obrador inferred that the incumbent Ecuadorian President, Daniel Noboa, won the October 2023 elections, thanks to the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio and a smear campaign against the more progressive and popular candidate Luisa Gonzalez.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry declared Smeke "persona non grata" and gave her 72 hours to leave the country. However, Lopez Obrador said his administration would not break diplomatic ties with Ecuador or expel the Ecuadorian ambassador to Mexico.

"We are not going to break off relations, nor are we going to do the same with the Ecuadorian ambassador," he said during his morning briefing on Friday.

Lopez Obrador continued his criticism of Noboa's government, which he characterized as "conservative." According to the Mexican leader, Noboa's team carried out a smear campaign against candidate Luisa Gonzalez: "I referred what I consider was manipulation in the last electoral process in Ecuador," he said.

Lopez Obrador's comments add to the existing tension between the two countries following Mexico's decision to grant political asylum to former Vice President Jorge Blas.

As of Dec. 17, Blas sought refuge in Mexico's Embassy to avoid prison term for two counts of corruption. Friction between the two countries has escalated following the Mexican government's refusal to allow Ecuadorian authorities to enter the country to arrest Blas.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry in Mexico shared a press release lamenting the declaration of persona non grata to Ambassador Smeke and denounced acts of "clear harassment" to the Mexican Embassy.

In its press release, the Ministry announced that the government of Mexico has decided to grant Glas political asylum. This decision will be officially communicated to the Ecuadorian authorities, along with the request that they grant Blas safe conduct in accordance with the 1954 Diplomatic Asylum Convention.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Ecuadorian government has deployed police forces outside the Embassy as a sign of rejection and disagreement with the Mexican President's statements.

"The Government of Mexico demands Ecuador to respect our sovereignty, not to harm the right to asylum and to comply with its international obligations, to guarantee the inviolability of diplomatic missions and to cease the policy of harassment and intimidation," read the statement.

Mexico said it holds Ecuador responsible for any harm to its Embassy, its personnel, and "any person under the protection of the Mexican State in that country."