Mexico City.- Mexico has formally requested Ecuador, the country with which it broke diplomatic relations in April, to issue a safe-conduct pass for the imprisoned former Ecuadorian vice president, Jorge Glas, so that he can be handed over to a third country.
Glas, vice president of Ecuador between 2013 and 2017 —during the governments of Rafael Correa and Lenín Moreno— is serving two sentences for corruption in a maximum security prison in Guayaquil. In addition to these two sentences, Glas also faces an additional trial for a new crime of embezzlement of public funds.
To avoid prosecution, Glas entered the Mexican embassy in Quito at the end of last year, but in early April the police raided the embassy and arrested him, an action considered a serious violation of Mexican sovereignty and which led to the breaking off of diplomatic relations and mutual lawsuits before the International Court of Justice.
Despite this situation, at the end of July Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld said that relations with Mexico, which had been broken at a diplomatic but not commercial level, were improving, although she did not give further details.
The government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, for its part, established an agreement with Switzerland to assume its diplomatic representation and protect its assets in the South American country.
On Monday, Mexico also requested the release of Glas “in light of his reported critical state of health” until a safe conduct permit is obtained, something that seems unlikely because in July the Ecuadorian justice system denied him a habeas corpus and house arrest.
At that time, the judge did not consider it proven that the former official’s rights had been violated, although, according to his lawyers, Glas had received 79 consultations from psychologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists and general practitioners during the months he was detained.
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