Glas, convicted twice for corruption, has been holed up in Mexico’s embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, arguing he is being persecuted by the attorney-general’s office.

Ecuador’s foreign ministry said later on Friday it would not grant Glas safe passage out of the country and that Mexico was violating political asylum agreements.

Ecuadorean authorities had sought permission from Mexico to enter the embassy and arrest Glas, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 after he was found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding it government contracts.

“The granting of diplomatic asylum, in this case, constitutes an illicit act of the state which grants it, supports an evasion of justice by Ecuadorean state and promotes impunity,” Ecuador’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ecuador does not persecute people for their political affiliation, the statement added, referring to a common complaint by Glas, who was last released from jail in November 2022 but is now facing other charges.

Ecuador’s government did not refer to Glas in its statement announcing its decision to expel Mexico’s ambassador on Thursday, citing instead “unfortunate” comments from Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Ecuadorean officials were angered by Lopez Obrador’s comments on the South American country’s bloody elections last year, in which a presidential candidate was assassinated.

On Wednesday, the Mexican president compared the assassination of candidate Fernando Villavicencio to violence during Mexico’s current election season, where several local candidates have been gunned down.

Lopez Obrador doubled down on his comments on Friday, repeating the comparison and blaming media outlets that he claimed were corrupt across Latin America.

The Mexican leader shrugged off the ambassador’s expulsion and said he would not retaliate with the same measure.

“For there to be a fight, there need to be two parties involved,” Lopez Obrador said.