Mexico suspended relations with Ecuador after security officials there raided its embassy late Friday night.

They arrested Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been holed up at the Mexican embassy in Quito since December. 

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador instructed the country’s foreign minister to cut diplomatic ties with Ecuador calling the raid “a flagrant violation of international law and of Mexico’s sovereignty.”

Obrador described Glas as “a refugee and seeking asylum due to the persecution and harassment he is facing.”

Ecuador had declared the Mexican ambassador persona non grata hours before the raid.

The Ecuadorian presidency confirmed Glas’ arrest in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. 

“No criminal can be considered a politically persecuted person,” the presidency said, stressing that Glas, convicted twice for corruption, “has been convicted with an enforceable sentence and had an arrest warrant issued by the competent authorities.”

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