Mexico denounces Ecuador to ICJ for embassy raid

MEXICO CITY -- The Mexican government formally denounced Ecuador's government to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the police raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito on April 5, Mexican Foreign Minister Alicia Barcena announced on Thursday.

"We want to test the international justice system," Barcena said alongside President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at a daily press conference.

"We are experiencing a moment of extreme weakness in the multilateral world and in international relations. We see violations all over the world that affect not only diplomats, but the civilian population," she said.

Mexico's lawsuit aims to hold Ecuador accountable for breaching "the inviolability" of the embassy and calls for suspending the South American country as a member of the United Nations unless it offers a public apology.

According to Barcena, the ICJ could even rule on the matter to expel the country from the United Nations.

Police stormed Mexico's embassy in Quito on April 5 to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, just hours after Mexico granted him political asylum, prompting Mexico to sever ties with Ecuador.

"What we want is that a despicable event like the one that Mexico suffered, especially its diplomatic representation, is not repeated," said Obrador.

"That it is not repeated in any country in the world and that international law is guaranteed, that the premises, the embassies of countries in any nation are not violated and that the countries where the embassies are located be committed to protecting the independence and guaranteeing the sovereignty of those spaces. That is what we want," he said.