Mexico grants former VP Glas political asylum but Ecuador won’t allow him to leave the country

Hours after Mexico granted him political asylum, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry announced it will not allow former vice president Jorge Glas to leave the country. Mexico’s asylum decision came a day after Ecuador’s government made Mexico’s ambassador persona non grata amid growing tensions between the two countries.

Former vice preisdent Jorge Glas

Glas, convicted twice for corruption and facing additional charges, has been holed up in Mexico’s embassy in Quito since seeking asylum in December, arguing he is being persecuted by the attorney general’s office.

In denying Mexico’s request for Glas’ safe passage out the country, Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry cited the 1955 Convention on Political Asylum and the 1954 Convention for Diplomatic Asylum. “The conventions on political asylum clearly establish that it is not lawful to grant asylum to persons convicted or prosecuted for ordinary crimes by competent courts,” the Ministry said in its statement.

In January, Ecuadorian authorities were denied permission to enter the embassy and arrest Glas, who was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 after he was found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for awarding it government contracts.

Glas’ future is unclear following the denial of safe passage out of the country. Glas was released from prison last year by a judge who has since been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes. In addition, the former vice president is facing new charges of stealing public funds from a 2016 earthquake relief project, and for harassing a former female associate.

According to a former Mexican diplomat, Glas is living in a janitor’s closet at the Quito embassy.

Ecuador’s government did not refer to Glas in its statement announcing its decision to expel Mexico’s ambassador on Thursday, citing instead “unfortunate” comments from Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Ecuadorian officials were angered by Lopez Obrador’s comments on the South American country’s bloody elections last year, in which a presidential candidate was assassinated.

On Wednesday, the Mexican president compared last year’s assassination of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio to violence during Mexico’s current election season, where several local candidates have been gunned down.

Lopez Obrador doubled down on his comments on Friday, repeating the comparison and blaming media outlets that he claimed were corrupt across Latin America.

The Mexican leader shrugged off the ambassador’s expulsion and said he would not retaliate with the same measure.

“For there to be a fight, there need to be two parties involved,” Lopez Obrador said.