Ecuador declares Mexican ambassador persona non grata and says she will leave 'shortly'

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador on Thursday declared Mexico's ambassador to Quito persona non grata due to recent statements made by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and said she will be leaving the country “shortly.”

López Obrador's remarks were about the 2023 presidential elections in the Andean country and the killing of Ecuador's former presidential candidate, Fernando Villavicencio.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the step was taken in accordance with the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations.

This “does not mean breaking diplomatic relations,” the ministry said, but it does mean the departure of Ambassador Raquel Serur Smeke. The ministry did not specify when she would be leaving Ecuador.

In his remarks, López Obrador questioned how the assassination of Villavicencio days before the first round of elections in August 2023 influenced voting trends. Ecuador elections in October were won by Daniel Noboa, an inexperienced politician and heir to a fortune built on banana trade.

The ministry statement further said Ecuador “is still grieving" Villavicencio's assassination, which has “threatened democracy, peace and security” of the nation.

Villavicencio, known for denouncing the most serious cases of corruption in recent years, was shot dead on Aug. 9 at a crowded political rally in Quito by a group of heavily armed men.