Assault on the Mexican embassy unleashes political tsunami in Ecuador

Quito. The consequences of the armed assault on the Mexican embassy in Quito are taking shape in two dimensions: judicially and politically, but there are also warnings on the external commercial level. No government had had a scenario like this, not even in the war conflicts of the last century or even less in the present after the sovereign positions taken by Rafael Correa, who governed from 2007 to 2017.

On the one hand, the Citizen Revolution movement, in the voice of its executive secretary, Andrés Arauz, expressed the decision to impeach President Daniel Noboa.

When asked about this, the former presidential candidate also pointed out that there are reasons for this and they are contemplated in the Constitution and could lead to his dismissal, for which two-thirds of the votes of the Assembly are needed: more than 90 of the 137 legislators.

At the same time, when referring to what possible sanctions from abroad imply for Ecuador, he explained: “We hope that when legal actions against the Government of Ecuador are initiated, the facts will be singled out so that President Noboa is directly responsible. and that the Ecuadorian people do not have to pay the consequences of this act of arbitrariness and flagrant violation of international law and humanitarian law.”

Arauz told La Jornada that the announcement of a request for impeachment against President Noboa is for the kidnapping of former vice president Jorge Glas after the assault on the Mexican embassy in the capital of the Andean country. And, of course, he said that the analysis to support the trial will also have Chancellor Gabriela Sommerfeld and the Minister of Government, Mónica Palencia, as co-responsible and direct authors.

In fact, Palencia is of Mexican origin and was nationalized on the same day that Noboa took power, last November 23, in an expedited process that lasted less than a week, when it normally takes several months. She is currently the Minister of Police and holds the other State portfolio, that of Government, which is in charge of political relations. Since last Thursday, she has not given a single interview or made public statements about what happened at the diplomatic headquarters of her country of origin.

Chancellor Sommerfeld even completed her master’s degree in Administration at the Technological Institute of Higher Studies of Monterrey in 2018.

In this sense, the former attorney general of Ecuador, Galo Chiriboga, who is also part of the Latin American Association of Jurists, considers that the two ministers could be prosecuted in Mexico because the crime (of kidnapping and/or illegal detention) “is committed on Mexican soil.” And if that is so, extradition could even be requested if a conviction is imposed, Chiriboga said.

Likewise, the lawyer and political analyst Mauro Andino told the author of this note that the Ecuadorian Penal Code itself provides for very drastic sanctions for those who illegally enter a diplomatic legation of another country. Much more so, he explained, when there is recognition by the authors of the order of a violent execution, which could also involve the commanders of the Police and the Army.

Jorge Glas returns to La Roca

The former vice president, kidnapped by the Public Force of Ecuador, in a very delicate state of health, was transferred this Tuesday to the high security prison, called La Roca, in the city of Guayaquil, where he is from.

Through a statement, the National Service for Comprehensive Care for Adults Deprived of Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI), reported that Jorge Glas left the Naval Hospital, where he was hospitalized for ingesting medicines that caused poisoning.

The SNAI indicated that, last Tuesday, Glas remained under medical observation and once his health status was within acceptable parameters he was discharged. And the same entity assured that “it will ensure the physical integrity of Glas”, who was transferred to La Roca guarded by about 15 police force vehicles, two tanks, a body of motorized vehicles and personnel from the Transit and Mobility Agency ( ATM).

One of his closest collaborators and former vice president of the Citizen Revolution movement, told La Jornada that neither family members nor lawyers had access to the former vice president for more than 80 hours. However, he said the only thing that was known was that he was stable.

Glas is subject to a preventive detention order related to the so-called “Manabí Reconstruction Case.” The former vice president is accused of not having used public funds for what was determined in the 2016 decree. However, his defense appeals to a basic rule: a president is not the executor of the projects or reconstruction work, but they are his ministers. In fact, in this case the funds were used in works that complemented the reconstruction and the case was opened seven years after the earthquake occurred in the coastal area of ​​Ecuador in April 2016.