MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's president said Thursday his country wants the United Nations to suspend Ecuador from the world body as part of a complaint to the top U.N. court over Ecuador’s police raid last week on the Mexican embass y in Quito.
Tensions between Mexico and Ecuador have soared since late last week when Ecuadorian authorities forced their way into the diplomatic mission to arrest Ecuador's former Vice President Jorge Glas who had been holed up there seeking asylum in Mexico.
Mexico filed its complaint Thursday at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands asking the U.N. to suspend Ecuador, although a U.N. spokesman in New York said it would be up to other member states to decide on suspending a country.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, at a news conference in Mexico City, railed against Ecuador and said that the court, "in accordance with the United Nations charter, should approve the expulsion, and there should be no veto” from the U.N. Security Council.
López Obrador said Mexico is demanding a public apology from Ecuador for the raid, reparation of damages and a promise not to do it again. Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld said her country would defend its actions and said an apology “is not something that is under discussion at this moment.”
The two countries have been tussling over Glas, a convicted criminal and fugitive, since he took refuge at Mexico's embassy in December.
Ecuador has argued that Glas has been targeted for crimes, not for political reasons, and that Mexico should not have been considering asylum for him. On April 5, Ecuadorian police scaled the embassy walls and broke into the building.
Roberto Canseco, Mexico’s head of consular affairs and the highest ranking diplomat present since Ecuador expelled the ambassador earlier in the week, tried to keep them from entering, even pushing a large cabinet in front of a door. But police restrained him and pushed him to the floor as they carried Glas out.
A copy of Mexico's formal complaint filed with the ICJ said, “Mr. Canseco was violently assaulted at the Embassy library,” adding, “This resulted in injuries to his arms, legs, face, back, and neck, as well as psychological harm.”
The complaint claims that “a member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained therein may be expelled from the Organization.”
It asked the court “to suspend Ecuador as member of the United Nations" until it issues “a public apology recognizing its violations to the fundamental principles and norms of international law” and agrees to reparations.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that “on the issue of membership suspended, it's outlined in the (U.N.) Charter, it's an issue for the member states to decide.”
Mexico, as well as foreign experts, say the raid on the embassy appeared to be a blatant violation of international accords. Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with Ecuador in response. Leaders across Latin America condemned Ecuador’s actions as a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
On Tuesday, Ecuador’s Deputy Minister of Human Mobility Alejandro Dávalos told representatives of the Organization of American States gathered in Washington, D.C. that Glas did not meet the requisites to merit receiving asylum from Mexico and could not be considered politically persecuted.
But OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro noted that “the use of force, the illegal incursion into a diplomatic mission, nor the detention of an asylee are the peaceful way toward resolution of this situation.” He said Ecuador’s actions could not be allowed to set a precedent.
Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - Ecuador's Vice President Jorge Glas speaks during an interview at his office in Quito, Ecuador, Sept. 12, 2017. Ecuadorian police broke through the external doors of the Mexican Embassy in Quito, Friday, April 6, 2024, to arrest Glas, who had been residing there since December. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa, File)
Police attempt to break into the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 5, 2024, following Mexico's granting of asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who had sought refuge there. Police later forcibly broke into the embassy through another entrance. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
People protest outside the Ecuadorian Embassy in Mexico City, Saturday, April 6, 2024. Mexico’s government has severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended higher on Wall Street, sending the Nasdaq composite to another record. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, and is sitting just shy of its own all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8%. Several “meme” stocks raced higher including GameStop and AMC Entertainment in an echo of the social-media driven frenzy of three years ago. Treasury yields edged lower in the bond market following a mixed report on wholesale inflation. Markets will be even more focused on the government’s report due out early Wednesday on inflation in consumer prices.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks drifted higher in afternoon trading on Wall Street Tuesday, leaving the market hovering just below the record high it set in late March.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and is just below its record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 99 points, or 0.3% to 39,531 as of 2:39 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.6%.
Several “meme” stocks, including GameStop and AMC Entertainment, raced higher in a reprise of the social-media driven frenzy of three years ago. GameStop jumped 54.6% and AMC rose 34.3%. Both stocks gave back most of their gains from earlier in the day.
An update on inflation showed that prices remain stubbornly high at the wholesale level, before many price changes are passed along to consumers. The latest producer price index showed that inflation rose sharply in April. The report also included a revision lower for the March reading. The report is the first of two big inflation updates this week that are being closely watched by Wall Street.
“Inflation pressures in the U.S economy are still substantial and the momentum that built up over the last few years is still rolling along,” said by Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank. “At the margin the Fed will see the April PPI report as another reason to slow-roll interest rate cuts.”
Bond yields edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped to 4.45% from 4.49% late Monday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for actions by the Federal Reserve, fell to 4.82% from 4.86%.
The bigger test for markets comes Wednesday, when the U.S. releases its monthly update on consumer prices, or inflation faced by households. Economists expect the consumer price index to ease to 3.4% in April on year-over-year basis. The rate of inflation has been ticking higher in 2024, raising concerns that the Fed could have a hard time taming inflation to the central bank's goal of 2%.
Investors have been curtailing their expectations for the speed and frequency of interest rate cuts this year as inflation remains hotter than expected. Traders are betting on one or two rate cuts this year, according to data from CME Group.
Wall Street is still hoping the Fed can pull off its “soft landing,” where high interest rates work to cool inflation without slowing the economy into a recession. The economy remains strong, but consumers might be showing signs of fatigue under the weight of stubborn inflation. Economists expect a retail sales report on Wednesday to show that consumer spending softened in April, just as it has over the last several months.
The latest round of earnings reports and company forecasts from retailers also show that consumers are struggling. Lower-income households are under a particularly heavy strain.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, at a panel discussion in Amsterdam on Tuesday, reaffirmed that the central bank won't likely raise its key interest rate to respond to stubborn inflation. He also said that his confidence that inflation will ease is “not as high as it was” because price increases have been persistently hot in the first three months of this year.
Earnings have been a bright spot for markets, helping to support gains for major indexes in May after a rough April. Companies in the S&P 500 are mostly finished with their latest results, which show a 5.3% gain in earnings overall.
Stocks were mostly higher in Europe and Asia.
Chinese markets slipped following U.S. plans to raise tariffs on imports from China.
The front of the New York Stock Exchange is adorned with signs for the tool maker DeWalt in honor of the 100th year anniversary of the company on Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Markets on Wall Street inched slightly higher ahead of the release of more inflation data from the U.S. government. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
FILE - People walk past the New York Stock Exchange on March. 21, 2024. World stocks are mixed on Monday, May 13, 2024, after Wall Street coasted to the close of another winning week. U.S. futures and oil prices were higher. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
A currency trader passes by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday, after U.S. stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday, after U.S. stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader gives a thumps up near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Asian shares were mixed in muted trading Tuesday, after U.S. stock indexes drifted to a mixed finish. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
