Mexico calls for UN to suspend Ecuador until it apologizes for embassy raid

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is calling for Ecuador to be suspended from the United Nations until the South American country issues a public apology for its raid on Mexico’s embassy in Quito, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena said on Thursday.

The demand is part of a case Mexico is presenting to the International Court of Justice, the top U.N. court, which is also known as the World Court.

It comes after Ecuador police on Friday entered the embassy and arrested its former Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought and was granted political asylum in Mexico.

The arrest, which Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has criticized as “authoritarian,” prompted Mexico to suspend diplomatic ties with Ecuador.

Ecuador argued it was unlawful to grant asylum to Glas, who had been convicted twice of corruption and was facing fresh charges.

The case will be presented to the court during the day on Thursday, Barcena explained, adding that Mexico hopes to test the international justice system so that events like the one in Quito do not happen again. — Reuters