The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has set a date for a first hearing in Mexico's lawsuit against Ecuador for the assault on the Embassy in Quito. The highest international court will hear on April 30 and May 1 the request for provisional measures against the Government of Daniel Noboa. It is mainly about the protection of the diplomatic headquarters, and the assets found inside, which were abandoned after the departure of the Mexican mission due to the conflict. Mexico sued Ecuador on April 11, after a violent raid on its legation by Ecuadorian agents, who were operating under orders of the president, and who forcibly took away former vice president Jorge Glas.
The statement from The Hague indicates that the hearings will be public and may be attended, in addition to those involved, by the press and the general public. The Executive of Andrés Manuel López Obrador seeks "that the Government of Ecuador adopt appropriate and immediate measures to provide full protection and security to diplomatic facilities, their assets and archives, avoiding any form of intrusion against them." In addition, he wants the eviction of the Mexican diplomats who have remained in Ecuador to be allowed, “that no measures be adopted that could harm the rights of Mexico with respect to any decision that the Court dictates on the merits” and that the Noboa Administration “remains refrain from carrying out any act or conduct that may aggravate or expand the controversy.”
The controversy began on April 5. Mexico and Ecuador had been tense for a few weeks by then. Former Vice President Glas had taken refuge in the Mexican Embassy in the hope of being able to escape the siege of Ecuadorian justice, which is pursuing him for two convictions, for illicit association to commit a crime and for bribery, and a new investigation - described by Correismo as a judicial persecution. Rafael Correa's former number two had requested political asylum, which was not granted by Mexico until a few hours before the assault. In the middle, López Obrador criticized Noboa's victory last year, and in response to those words, Ecuador named ambassador Raquel Serur persona non grata.
The violence of the invasion of the diplomatic headquarters, considered a sacred space in international politics, was recorded on the building's security cameras and was later broadcast by López Obrador. In the images you can see the agents mistreating the Mexican officials, pointing guns at them, and forcibly lifting Glas. “It was an authoritarian act, incredible, it is sometimes bad to use examples, but not even [Augusto] Pinochet, the fearsome Pinochet, and others, had dared to do that,” the Mexican president said then. The brutality of the assault generated almost unanimous rejection from the entire region, even from those who took a more cautious attitude at first.
The Mexican Government then escalated the matter to the ICJ. He did so accompanied by almost all the countries of Latin America, the United States, Canada and even the European Union. Among the things they have asked for, in addition to the protection of its diplomatic headquarters, is that Ecuador be suspended as a member of the United Nations (UN) and that, if found guilty of violating the principles established by the founding charter of the United Nations, United, he is expelled from the organization.
“The multilateral system must be up to the task and we must demand that international justice unambiguously condemn and sanction the serious violations that have occurred and avoid a precedent of impunity,” requested the Mexican Foreign Minister, Alicia Bárcena, in presenting the lawsuit. The Ecuadorian president has since tried to reduce tensions and make light of what happened. This week the South American president invited López Obrador “to eat ceviche or tacos and talk” about what happened. Although he defended the offensive that his agents had towards the Embassy. “I don't regret anything,” he said.