MEXICO CITY, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The Mexican government decided to grant political asylum to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been taking refuge in the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador's capital, since last December, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said Friday.

The decision was taken "after a thorough analysis of the information received" and would be officially communicated to the Ecuadorian authorities, along with the request to grant the respective safe conduct under the 1954 Convention on Diplomatic Asylum, an international treaty to which Mexico and Ecuador are states parties, said the ministry in a statement.

It comes one day after the Ecuadorian government declared Mexican Ambassador to Ecuador Raquel Serur Smeke a "persona non grata" in response to recent statements by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The Mexican government regretted the decision, considering it "disproportionate" and "clearly of a political nature." It instructed the diplomat "to return to Mexico to protect her safety," while expressing rejection of the increased presence of Ecuadorian police forces outside the Mexican embassy in Quito. Enditem

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