Ecuador has recalled its ambassador from Colombia over remarks related to a high-profile criminal case that has stirred tensions across Latin America.
The case in question is that of former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, a left-wing figure currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for corruption.
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This week marks the two-year anniversary of a controversial police raid that saw Ecuadorian authorities storm the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest Glas, who had sought asylum in the diplomatic facility.
But the right-wing government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, which authorised the raid, has denounced criticisms of the Glas case as a violation of his country’s sovereignty.
Wednesday’s decision to recall Ambassador Arturo Felix Wong from Bogota is the latest sign of cross-border strife with Ecuador’s neighbour, Colombia, and its left-wing President Gustavo Petro.
In a local radio interview on Wednesday, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld confirmed that her country’s ambassador to Colombia had been recalled.
The criticisms of the Glas case, she added, were uncalled for. “It’s clearly a provocation because these kinds of messages come out of nowhere,” she said.
Her remarks echoed those of Noboa himself, who has led a months-long feud with the Colombian government.
“This country has waited years to see the corrupt answer to justice,” Noboa said in a social media message on Tuesday.
He denounced critics, like Petro, who consider Glas to be a “political prisoner” and warned that he considered such rhetoric to be a form of foreign interference.
“I wish to be emphatic: This constitutes an assault on our sovereignty and a violation of the principle of non-intervention,” Noboa said.
His statement appeared to be prompted by a series of social media posts Petro wrote on the anniversary of the Mexican embassy raid, which took place on April 5, 2024.
That episode resulted in Mexico breaking its diplomatic relations with Ecuador, a rupture that endures to this day.
Critics called the raid a violation of international law. Treaties like the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations protect embassies and consulates from military and law enforcement actions without prior consent.
Glas had been sheltering in the Mexican embassy since December 2023, claiming he was facing political persecution in Ecuador.
After the raid, he was sentenced to an additional 13 years in prison for the misuse of public funds, in addition to prison terms for two prior corruption cases.
Glas was one of several politicians who were convicted as part of the Odebrecht scandal, which saw government officials across Latin America accused of taking bribes in exchange for issuing favourable contracts to certain business interests.
In 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for allegedly accepting bribes worth $13.5m, and in 2020, he faced an additional eight-year sentence. He has been barred from ever holding public office again.
Last September, Colombia granted citizenship to Glas. President Petro then called for Glas to be transferred into Colombian custody. He reprised that request in a social media post on Monday.
“I called for there to be no political prisoners in any country in the Americas. It is undeniable that Jorge Glas is a political prisoner,” Petro wrote in the first of two posts on the subject.
In the second, published the next day, Petro raised concerns about Glas’s health and wellbeing. The former vice president is serving his sentence in a maximum-security prison in Ecuador, El Encuentro.
“Jorge Glas is a Colombian citizen, and he is a political prisoner,” Petro said.
“I call upon international human rights organisations to safeguard his rights. His health condition now poses a threat to his life; due to his imprisonment, he has not received adequate sustenance and is currently suffering from severe malnutrition and muscle mass loss.”
Petro added that “allowing a person to starve to death” would constitute a “crime against humanity”.
The heated rhetoric between Petro and Noboa is part of a long-running spat between the two leaders.
Since March alone, Noboa has slapped Colombia with 50-percent tariffs, based on accusations it has been too lax in its fight against drug trafficking.
Petro, meanwhile, has accused Noboa of carrying out a bombing campaign near the Colombian border, resulting in the recovery of 27 charred bodies.
Noboa has been leading an aggressive, military-led anti-narcotics campaign with the support of United States President Donald Trump, who has similarly criticised left-wing governments like Petro’s for failing to tamp down on drug trafficking.
Noboa and Trump have grown close since the US president was sworn in for a second term in January 2025, and Ecuador’s policies towards regional governments and drug-trafficking have echoed those of the US.
