Ecuador’s former vice president, Jorge Glas, was held in a high-security prison three days after the politician was detained inside the Mexican embassy in Quito during a police raid that sparked outrage across Latin America. He was reportedly taken from prison to a hospital.
Glass, 54, was sent to La Roca (The Rock), an Alcatraz-inspired prison in Guayaquil, on Saturday, a day after he was detained by Ecuadorian security forces inside the Mexican mission where he was seeking asylum.
Ecuador’s highly controversial decision to arrest convicted Mr. Glass from Brasilia to Brussels was widely seen as a gross violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which states that embassy premises are considered “inviolable.” was considered.
In another dramatic development, Ecuadorian media reported Monday afternoon that Mr. Glass was taken by ambulance from La Roca to a nearby naval hospital. It was not immediately clear why the former vice president, twice convicted of corruption and considered a fugitive by Ecuadorian authorities, was taken to the hospital.Several local newspapers report The politician was said to have been suffering from drug addiction, but the claim could not be immediately verified.
As news of Gras’ hospitalization spread, Rafael Correa, the ousted former left-wing president whom Gras served as president from 2013 to 2017, tweeted: The villains will be jumping for joy. Good luck, Jorge! ”
Ecuador’s incumbent conservative president, Daniel Novoa, ordered the attack on the Mexican embassy on Friday night as part of his nascent “war on crime,” sparking intense criticism across Latin America’s political spectrum. Ta.
“It was an authoritarian act…it wasn’t even scary.” [Chilean dictator Augusto] Pinochet and others were very bold,” Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador told reporters on Monday.
European governments also condemned Ecuador’s move. Britain’s Foreign Office said on Sunday: “All governments must respect the inviolability of diplomatic missions.” “The safety and security of diplomatic facilities and personnel is a fundamental principle guiding diplomatic relations.”
Novoa issued a statement Monday afternoon in which he sought to justify his actions to the international community. The 36-year-old politician said he made this extraordinary decision in order to protect national security, the rule of law, and the dignity of the people, which does not tolerate impunity against criminals, fraudsters, corrupt people, and narco-terrorists. did. ”.
“Ecuador is a country of peace and justice that respects all nations and international law,” the president said.
