The one who was president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017, Rafael Correa, urged this Tuesday the European Union and the rest of the international community to put “political pressure” so that the Ecuadorian Government of Daniel Noboa grants safe passage to former vice president Jorge Glas.
“I ask Europe and the world to (make) the political and judicial pressure that is necessary, because this is not going to stop with a simple wake-up call, so that the Noboa Government gives safe passage for Jorge Blas “said Correa in a press conference in the European Parliament together with the United Left MEP, Manu Pineda.
The former Ecuadorian president drew attention to the fact that “there is a kidnapped person, whose life is in danger, whose human rights have been violated,” including the asylum that Mexico had granted him, whose Embassy in Quito was entered last year. Friday police forces to arrest Jorge Glas, who since yesterday has been admitted to a military hospital for health problems apparently due to not eating food.
“This goes beyond left or right. This violates civilizational principles, principles such as the inviolability of the diplomatic headquarters, principles such as the sacredness of political asylum,” Correa stressed, expressing his desire that the majority of political groups in the European Parliament support the initiatives that Izquierda Unida is going to initiate to put pressure on Quito.
In this sense, Pineda announced that his political group will request a debate in the plenary session of the European Parliament on the situation in Ecuador and will demand that the European Union activate the dispute settlement mechanism provided for in a clause of the Association Agreement of the Twenty-seven with the Latin American country.
“We, as the European Union, have obligations,” Pineda said, noting that his group is also going to ask the European External Action Service (EEAS), headed by High Representative Josep Borrell, to send a “mission” to Ecuador to “to urgently visit” Glas “because we are fearing for his life, we are fearing that he will commit suicide, so to speak.”
“I hope the right, especially the European extreme right, does not also ideologies this and since it is against a left-wing movement, a left-wing vice president, (they think that) it is good that they kill him while he is alive. There are things that go much further than ideology, if we have some political decency,” said Correa.
“Be clear, we are not even facing fascism, we are facing barbarism,” Correa warned, emphasizing that this “brutal” action by the Noboa Government has electoral motives because the president thought it would give him “popularity” in the face of to the plebiscite on the 21st promoted by the Executive on issues of security, investments and employment.
“If we are going to pass this on to you, the civilizational principles, the same civilizational principles, will be in danger. For the sake of international coexistence, for the validity of human rights, for my country, Europe, the world, stop this,” he cried. Correa, who alluded to Glas's “kidnapping” as “the cherry on the cake” of the “persecution” also suffered by him.
Correa has lived in Belgium since 2017, where he has had refugee status since 2022, denouncing political persecution and 'lawfare' (use of the judicial apparatus against political adversaries), the same reason that led Glas, who has two current convictions for corruption and is accused in a new case.
According to the Noboa Government, Mexico had breached international treaties on the right to asylum by sheltering a person who was accused of embezzlement and who had to return to prison to serve two sentences for bribery and criminal association.
For its part, Mexico maintains its position of frontal rejection of the assault on its embassy in Quito and has chosen to resolve the crisis with complaints before international bodies such as the Organization of American States (OAS) and the International Court of Justice.
Precisely, the OAS meets this Tuesday, at the request of Ecuador, to discuss the controversial assault on the Mexican Embassy in Quito.
Correa today emphasized that Ecuador will be represented at the level of officials at the meeting because Noboa feels that it has “the implicit support of the United States, because it issued a statement, but it was very lukewarm.” “They believe that they are going to go unpunished, and that depends on the international community. We cannot set that precedent,” he concluded.
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