Mexico Asks Mónica Palencia for Neutrality Upon Assuming the Presidency of the OAS Council

ByArturo Sánchez Jiménez

This article by Arturo Sánchez Jiménez originally appeared in the October 7, 2026 edition of La Jornada, Mexico’s premier left wing daily newspaper.

Mexico City. Mexico asked the new president of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), Ecuador’s Mónica Palencia, on Wednesday to “maintain a role of neutrality.” Palencia was a minister in the government of Daniel Noboa when the assault on the Mexican embassy in Quito was ordered, in April 2024.

At the first session of the body under Palencia’s leadership, in which she presented her work plan, Mexico’s representative, Alejandro Encinas, wished her success and stressed that neutrality is necessary:

All the more so in this multilateral body, where there is a great diversity of ideas and of thinking far removed from the ideas of the fundamentalism of a single way of thinking.

Alejandro Encinas, Mexico’s representative to the OAS

The Mexican diplomat said he shared the idea expressed by Palencia of always maintaining the best disposition to facilitate debates in the Council and, after stressing the need for her to maintain a role of neutrality, he said: “I hope we conduct ourselves in that direction.”

In response, Palencia, who is of Mexican origin, thanked him for his good wishes and stated: “rest assured that I am not a supporter of a single way of thinking.” She said she will exercise her role as facilitator and asked that any objection or observation be raised with her.

Palencia Was Minister During the Assault on the Mexican Embassy

Born in Durango in 1965, Palencia obtained Ecuadorian nationality through a decree signed by Noboa, one day after he took office, in November 2023, a constitutional requirement to join his cabinet.

She was Minister of Government and of the Interior, the portfolio responsible for the police, until February 2025, and in April of that year she was appointed ambassador to the OAS.

On the night of April 5, 2024, Ecuadorian security forces broke into the Mexican embassy in Quito to detain former Vice President Jorge Glas, to whom the Mexican government had granted asylum.

The government of then-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador immediately broke off diplomatic relations with Ecuador and filed a lawsuit against that country before the International Court of Justice for the violation of its diplomatic premises.

That same month, the OAS Permanent Council approved a resolution condemning the break-in.

Ecuador will hold the presidency of the Permanent Council until December 31, 2026, in accordance with the alphabetical rotation established by the body’s statute.