Ecuador sends Jorge Glas to maximum-security prison as regional outrage grows over Mexican embassy raid

Tension between Mexico and Ecuador is at an historic high because of Jorge Glas, one of the most prominent Ecuadorian politicians of the last 20 years. Glas served as vice-president under Rafael Correa and then Lenín Moreno and came to be in charge of oil resources in a country that experienced dizzying development from the money that rained down from crude. He was one of the most visible faces of the movement that grew around Correa, a populist and charismatic leader who claimed he was leading his country into a form of 21st century socialism. However, Glas fell into disgrace over three corruption investigations launched by the Attorney General’s Office. The politician considers the investigation is judicial persecution on the part of his opponents, who are now in power. As such, he sought refuge last December 17 in the Mexican Embassy with the aim of receiving the status of political refugee, which was finally granted Friday, hours before he was forcibly removed from the diplomatic legation. Ecuador’s operation to capture Glas sparked a diplomatic furor that has caused outrage across the Americas.

Glas was hoping to find a safe space, far from the gavel of justice, as in the case of Correa, who is in exile in Belgium. But the former vice-president’s immunity was a mirage. The Ecuadorian police, following the instructions of President Daniel Noboa, surrounded the Mexican Embassy on Friday night and, after an hour of uncertainty and tension, stormed the building. The agents broke down doors and gates leading to the garden and searched the building until they located Glas, who was surprised by his arrest and the violent way in which he was removed. The agents shook off Roberto Canseco, the head of the Mexican consular section, who tried to restrain them on his own. The diplomat ended up on the ground, desperate and helpless, and watched as a convoy of vehicles with tinted windows escorted Glas away.

Glas declined to put himself forward as the candidate of Correism in the presidential elections of 2023, which Noboa won with a business-based discourse aimed at millennials and who wanted to show that Ecuadorian socialism was a thing of the past. Glas spent the night in the Prosecutor’s Office in the capital, Quito. At dawn on Saturday, he was transferred in an Air Force plane to Guayaquil, where another contingent of police and military was waiting to take him to the La Roca maximum-security prison.

Inside the prison, he underwent a medical evaluation. In images issued by the government, he can be seen entering the prison with a downcast expression, handcuffed and wearing a tracksuit and a gray sweatshirt, escorted by a policeman on his arm. La Roca has capacity for 100 prisoners, each of them housed in an individual cell. A few months ago, it held the heads of the gangs on which Noboa has declared war amid an internal security crisis. A presidential decree allowed soldiers to take charge of security on the streets and control of the prisons. The president, 36, has applied the iron fist approach championed by El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. However, this violation of Mexican sovereignty places internal security and the severe punishment of lawbreakers above respect for human rights.

Mexico reacted to the assault on its embassy with disbelief. Hours before the raid, the Mexican government had requested safe-conduct for Glas to board a plane to Mexico City. Following his detention, Mexican President Andrés López Obrador broke off diplomatic relations with Quito over what he termed “a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico.” Only Nicaragua has so far followed the example of López Obrador’s administration.

Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alicia Bárcena said Saturday that on the instructions of the president diplomatic personnel have been withdrawn from Ecuador by commercial airlines in an operation that was supported by friendly embassies. López Obrador praised the solidarity of the regional community in condemning the raid and the violation of international treaties.

Regional repudiation of the assault has been almost unanimous. The Organization of American States, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and even Javier Milei, who has exchanged heated words with López Obrador, have sided with Mexico and denounced the flagrant violation of international law committed by Ecuador.

At the center of it all is Glas, who has two convictions for corruption and served five years in prison before his lawyers secured his release under parole conditions. These were subsequently revoked by the Constitutional Court, upon which he was returned to jail for a further eight years. In addition, Glas faces a new trial for embezzlement in which the judge requested preventive detention. To avoid being incarcerated again, he sought protection from the diplomatic legation of Mexico, whose authorities consider him politically persecuted. Ecuador, on the other hand, considers him a criminal and as such pulled out all the stops to prevent his departure for Mexico City, sparking a diplomatic conflict.

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