The Jorge Glass case and the current conflict between Ecuador and Mexico

The former official had been present at the Mexican Commission since last December as a guest and was awaiting a response to his asylum request, which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador granted to him on Friday because he considered him politically persecuted.

On the same day at night, Ecuadorian military and police forces stormed the diplomatic headquarters and kidnapped Glass, who is currently in a maximum security prison, and whose lawyers express concern for his health and physical integrity.

But is he a politically persecuted person or a convicted criminal?

A part of the Ecuadorian people, incited by politicians and the media, will answer that he is corrupt and must take responsibility for his actions, but his supporters and international jurists believe that the Citizen's Revolution activist is a victim of flawed processes, plagued by irregularities. An example of what is called “lawfare”.

“Glass is imprisoned by the forces of circumstance,” said a well-known critic a few years ago, and that is true for many.

The main conspiracy against the former vice president was linked to Odebrecht, a case that in Brazil, the country where it originated, led to a ruling – now overturned – against the current president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Although the evidence from that investigation was declared invalid in Brazil, it seems that the news did not reach Ecuador, and for this reason many believe that the goal is not to serve justice, but to achieve political goals.

In short, the former Vice President temporarily received the benefit of advance release on November 28, 2022, after consolidating two prison sentences of six and eight years in the Odebrecht and bribery cases; However, this measure was canceled at the end of 2023.

In the face of this new attack, Glass took refuge last December in the Mexican embassy and requested political asylum.

At the beginning of this year, the judicial system ordered the arrest of the former official on charges of embezzlement in another case, called Manabi Reconstruction, which investigates alleged embezzlement at public works after the 2016 earthquake.

The current Ecuadorian government has been disturbed by some comments made by Mexican President, Andres Manuel López Obrador, about the electoral process in which Daniel Noboa was elected president of the South American country.

The young governor decided to declare the Mexican ambassador, Raquel Seror, persona non grata, and since that country had granted asylum to Glass, Noboa ordered an illegal raid on the diplomatic headquarters to arrest him and take him to La Roca, as if he were a political trophy despite the consequences.

Ecuador is currently facing a diplomatic crisis, as dozens of countries and organizations have denied violating the Vienna Convention, and Mexico has decided to sever relations, which will affect the economy and society.

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