Nicolás Maduro announces the closure of the Venezuelan Embassy and consulates in Ecuador

The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced this Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at the virtual meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), the closure of the Embassy and consulates of the Caribbean nation in Ecuadorin support of Mexico, after the assault by the Ecuadorian Police on the diplomatic headquarters of this country.

“In front of that aberrant act of arrogance by President (Daniel) Noboa… I have ordered to close our Embassy in Ecuador, close the consulate in Quito, immediately close the consulate in Guayaquil and for diplomatic personnel to return to Venezuela immediately,” the president indicated at the meeting.

Nicolás Maduro gave the order to the chargé d’affaires – head of the Venezuelan diplomatic mission in Ecuador -, Pedro Sassone, to return to the Caribbean nation “until international law is expressly restored.”

The Venezuelan president indicated that the attack by the Ecuadorian Police on the Mexican Embassy was an “act of barbarism”, for which he expressed his support for the Mexico’s proposal to expel Ecuador from the United Nations (UN) “until he apologizes to the international community and restores the situation to its original legal status.”

“(Former) Vice President Jorge Glas must be restored to the Mexican Embassy, ​​his political asylum must be recognized, he must give approval and travel to recover his physical health from torture in Mexico,” he added.

The Celac leaders met this Tuesday, virtually, to discuss this incident, for which Mexico filed a complaint before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in which it asks to suspend Ecuador from the UN until it offers a public apology for raiding its diplomatic headquarters.

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, asked at the virtual summit to join his complaint against Ecuador at the ICJ.

López Obrador reaffirmed that his complaint seeks “an expulsion of Ecuador from the United Nationsas long as there is not an apology and an offer of non-repetition, to never again do something nasty” like the raid on the Mexican diplomatic headquarters on April 5.