Mexico is cutting ties with Ecuador after police stormed the Mexican embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice-President Jorge Glas.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said they had “forcibly entered” the embassy in a “flagrant violation of international law”.

Glas took refuge in the embassy last December after Ecuador issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged corruption.

Glas’s lawyer said he was innocent.

Glas served as Ecuador’s vice-president between 2013 and 2017. He was relieved of his duties because of mounting corruption allegations against him.

Later that year he was sentenced to six years in jail in connection with corruption at the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Prosecutors said he took $13.5m (£10.2m) in bribes.

He was released from prison in November but Ecuadorian authorities then issued another arrest warrant alleging further allegations of corruption, triggering Glas to seek refuge in the Mexican embassy.

On Friday, Mexico said it had granted Glas political asylum “after a thorough analysis” of the situation – an action Ecuador viewed as illegal.

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