Ecuador asks to enter Mexico embassy, arrest former Ecuador VP-local media

Ecuador has requested Mexico's permission to enter that country's embassy in Quito and arrest former Ecuadorean Vice-President Jorge Glas, local media reported on Friday, citing a document from Ecuadorean authorities. Glas, convicted twice for corruption, asked Mexico for political asylum in December, arguing he is being persecuted by the attorney general's office.

Ecuador has requested Mexico's permission to enter that country's embassy in Quito and arrest former Ecuadorean Vice-President Jorge Glas, local media reported on Friday, citing a document from Ecuadorean authorities.

Glas, convicted twice for corruption, asked Mexico for political asylum in December, arguing he is being persecuted by the attorney general's office. He has been inside the Mexican embassy since that same month. "The ministry of Foreign Relations and Human Movement asks for the consent of the head of the diplomatic mission of Mexico for the forces of order, under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior, to enter the site of the mission and comply with the capture order for Jorge David Glas Espinel, ordered by the National Court of Justice of Ecuador," said a government document published by several local media outlets.

Neither Mexican authorities nor Ecuador's foreign ministry or presidency responded immediately to requests for comment. In January a judge ordered Glas be held on charges of misusing resources meant for the reconstruction of the province of Manabi after an earthquake in 2016. He lost a February appeal against the measure.

Glas has been jailed and freed repeatedly. He was last released in November 2022 after completing five years of his sentences.