Former Ecuadorean Vice President Jorge Glas, who has been convicted twice for corruption, has requested political asylum from Mexico, claiming that he is being targeted by the attorney general’s office, his lawyer said on Friday.
Glas served as vice president under the leftist government of Rafael Correa from 2013 to 2017 and has been inside the Mexican embassy in Quito as a “guest” since the weekend.
The attorney general’s office asked Glas to meet with them regarding a case involving public funds collected for the reconstruction of coastal Manabi province after a 2016 earthquake.
“There has been political persecution since 2017 and it has intensified recently by the attorney general, who is trying to process and detain Jorge Glas, who is innocent,” lawyer Eduardo Franco Loor told Reuters over the phone, confirming that Glas requested asylum on Wednesday. “There is tremendous political hatred.”
The Mexican government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Glas, aged 54, was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 after being found guilty of receiving bribes from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht in exchange for government contracts. He was also given a separate eight-year prison sentence in 2020, along with Correa, for using money from contractors to finance campaigns for Correa’s political movement.
Glas has been in and out of jail multiple times and was last released in November 2022 after serving five years of his sentences. Though he can move freely within Ecuador, he is unable to leave the country for the duration of his sentences.
Although the legislature declined to authorize a trial over the Manabi case on Thursday, the attorney general’s office stated in a release that it is intent on charging him.
The Ecuadorean government has stated that it is “judicially evident” that Glas’ request for diplomatic asylum would be invalid due to his convictions.
The Mexican government has granted asylum to several former officials from Correa’s 10-year administration who have claimed they are victims of political persecution. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito, additional reporting by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey, Mexico; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
