QUITO, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador drew widespread criticism from the United Nations and several Latin American nations on Saturday after its police broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito and arrested former Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been taking refuge in the embassy since last December.

DIPLOMATIC BACKLASH

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "alarmed" by the raid carried out by Ecuadoran security forces at Mexico's embassy in Quito to arrest graft-accused Glas, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, on Saturday.

The UN chief urged both Ecuador and Mexico to show "moderation" and "solve their differences through peaceful means," the spokesman said in a statement.

The incident prompted Mexico to swiftly sever diplomatic ties with Ecuador. "This is a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Other Latin American countries, including Cuba and Bolivia, were united in support of Mexico following the raid.

"All our solidarity with Mexico, in the face of the unacceptable violation of its Embassy in Quito. The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which is an essential component of international law, must be respected by all," said Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on X.

Ecuador's move "must be subject to strong repudiation, whatever the justification for its implementation," said Brazil's foreign ministry in a statement.

On Saturday, Nicaragua also severed "all diplomatic relations" with Ecuador. In a statement, the Nicaraguan government expressed its "absolute rejection" and condemnation of Ecuador's action.

WHO IS JORGE GLAS?

Glas served as vice president under Rafael Correa's government from 2013 to 2017.

In 2017, he was initially sentenced to six years after a court found him guilty of taking bribes from a Brazilian construction company. He was convicted again in 2020 of using funds from contractors to finance campaigns for Correa's political movement, resulting in an eight-year sentence.

He was last released in November 2022, but Ecuadorian authorities have recently accused Glas of embezzling government funds meant for reconstruction following a devastating 2016 earthquake.

Ecuador, which sought Mexico's permission to enter the embassy in March to detain Glas, argues that the asylum offer was illegal and has demanded his extradition.

According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, a treaty regulating international relations, a country is prohibited from encroaching on an embassy located within its territory. ■