Latin America, territory of diplomatic conflict

The images are unprecedented. A dozen agents armed with rifles break into the Mexican Embassy in Quito, mistreat the staff of the diplomatic legation, target those present and forcibly take away the former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas, whom the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador ended. to grant political asylum. Never has a country in the region gone so far in breaking the agreements that regulate bilateral relations and the assault carried out on April 5 has opened a serious crisis with still uncertain consequences: Mexico has sued Ecuador before the Court International Court of Justice in The Hague and has requested the temporary suspension of that country as a member of the UN.

The conflict between López Obrador and his counterpart, the right-wing Daniel Noboa, who transferred Glas to a maximum security prison, is the deepest that Latin America faces today, but it is not the only focus of diplomatic tension. Venezuela has just approved a law that unilaterally annexed part of neighboring Guyana, Essequibo, and the Government of Nicolás Maduro is the epicenter of constant clashes with most countries in the region. The opaque management of the registration process for presidential candidates provoked criticism even from clearly left-wing leaders such as the Colombian Gustavo Petro, who traveled to Caracas last week to bury the hatchet, or the Brazilian Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. But relations with Chile were strained to such an extent that the progressive Gabriel Boric called his ambassador in Caracas for consultations, while the Chilean Prosecutor's Office accused the Caribbean country of being behind the murder of an exiled Venezuelan former military officer.

At the same time, the Argentine president, the ultra Javier Milei, has had more disagreements than rapprochements with his Latin American counterparts since he took office last December. And in Central America, to the isolation of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo are added the attacks of the Salvadoran Nayib Bukele on anyone who questions his security policy. These are some of the focuses of a territory of diplomatic conflict.

Assault on the Embassy

The beginning of the crisis between Ecuador and Mexico began well before the entire world could see the head of the Mexican Foreign Ministry in Quito on the ground, struggling with the police to avoid an arrest at his Embassy. On April 5, a few hours after the López Obrador Government granted political asylum to Glas, Ecuadorian security forces had been surrounding the building for some time. But Embassies are considered a sacred place in international politics and no Mexican official in that building thought it was possible to experience what they experienced. Until a knock to break down the door alerted them.

Glas,

number two

of former president Rafael Correa, had been taking refuge there since last December, and after several gestures that escalated the tension between the two countries, the Mexican delegation was waiting for a safe passage that would allow its host to board a flight to Ciudad from Mexico. Noboa has reaffirmed his decision and in an interview with the Australian channel SBS broadcast this Monday he assured that he does not regret anything, although he says he is willing to talk with López Obrador over a ceviche or eating some tacos. In any case, the Ecuadorian president's attack, practically unanimously condemned by the international community, has further stirred the already turbulent waters of Latin American foreign policy.

The dispute over the Essequibo

One of the last episodes that set off all the alarms, both in Washington and in the United Nations, was the escalation of Nicolás Maduro in Guyana. The 160,000 square kilometers of Essequibo, an extensive jungle region rich in minerals, are at the center of a dispute dating back more than two centuries that in recent months has multiplied Venezuela's diplomatic fronts. Since 2018, the case has been settled at the International Court of Justice. Most of the inhabitants of that territory speak English and have a Guyanese identity document, and it is precisely the validity of this document that is being discussed in The Hague.

The conflict was in the background of the political debate for decades, but at the end of last year Nicolás Maduro decided to dust it off in the middle of the race towards the presidential elections on July 28. He called a consultative referendum to annex the territory, appointed authorities in charge of its management and ordered to change the official map of the country by adding Essequibo. There were troop movements on both sides and exchanges of communications. The actions triggered alarms in the region and forced mediation.

Venezuela as a focus of bilateral conflict

Caracas' decisions have been straining the regional political landscape for years, in a tug-of-war of disagreements and rapprochements. Now the process of registering presidential candidates, from which the main opposition candidate, María Corina Machado, was excluded, has been the trigger for an avalanche of criticism. The statements and messages of concern on social networks also came from left-wing governments, but the Chilean Gabriel Boric is, among the progressive presidents, the one who maintains the most strained relationship with Maduro.

Last week, Chile's Undersecretary of the Interior, Manuel Monsalve, summarized the ties with Venezuela: “For some months we sought to establish a political climate of [good] relations. However, that climate has taken a radical turn in recent weeks.” The last episode that ruined the efforts occurred when the Foreign Minister of the Maduro Government, Yván Gil, declared that the international criminal group Tren de Aragua is “an international media fiction.” The statements led Boric to call for consultations the socialist ambassador Jaime Gazmuri, who assumed the diplomatic position in Venezuela in May 2023, where Chile had not had an ambassador since 2018. And that episode was only the first step in a broader crisis. The news that the kidnapping and murder of Ronald Ojeda - an opponent of the Government of Nicolás Maduro and a political refugee in Chile - was organized from Venezuela and had a political motive, according to the Chilean Prosecutor's Office, put bilateral relations to the limit.

Milei's outbursts

In the four months that he has been in power, Javier Milei has had more disagreements than rapprochements with his Latin American peers. He had the first diplomatic conflict before beginning his mandate, on the occasion of the invitations to the inauguration ceremony on December 10: he first invited former president Jair Bolsonaro, with whom he is united by a great ideological affinity, than the current head of state, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom Milei has described as “communist” and “corrupt.” Lula finally left.

In recent weeks, Milei's verbal darts have been directed against the presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He called Petro a “terrorist murderer” and López Obrador, “ignorant.” The two governments responded and the respective foreign ministries had to mediate so that the dialectical escalation did not escalate. “I still don't understand how Argentines, being so intelligent, voted for someone who is not accurate, who despises the people,” López Obrador criticized him.

After days of tension between Colombia and Argentina, and with the threat of expulsion of Argentine diplomats hanging in the balance, the two countries issued a joint statement that sought to calm the waters. The bond between Mexico and Argentina was less affected, but the crossed accusations made clear the antipathy that the leaders of two of the great Latin American countries profess.

With information from

Georgina Zerega

,

Carolina Mella

,

Florantonia Singer

,

Antonia Laborde

and

Mar Centenera

.