The United States sanctioned the former president of Ecuador Rafael Correa and his vice Jorge Glas for corruption – Diario La Página –

The United States Department of State has declared Rafael Correa, former president of Ecuador, and Jorge Glas, former vice president, ineligible to enter US territory due to their participation in acts of corruption during their public administration. The official statement indicates that both accepted bribes, including through political contributions, in exchange for awarding favorable government contracts. For this, both Correa and Glas were sentenced in the Ecuadorian justice system.

In a statement, the United States ambassador to Ecuador, Art Brown, indicated that direct relatives of Correa and Glas will not be able to enter the United States territory either: “The Department also designates Correa’s wife, Anne Malherbe Gosselin, and their children of legal age, Sofía Correa, Anne Dominique Correa, and Rafael Miguel Correa, as ineligible to enter the United States. In addition, the Department also designates Glas’ wife, Cinthia Díaz Aveiga, and his adult son Jorge Glas Díaz as ineligible to enter the United States.”

Rafael Correa was sentenced in 2020 in the 2012-2016 Bribery case. The conviction indicated that Correa was the direct perpetrator of aggravated bribery. The investigation revealed that there were irregular contributions by State contractors, through cash or cross-billing, for the benefit of the ruling party, received by senior officials of the government chaired by Correa. In that investigation, Glas and other figures of the Citizen Revolution were also sentenced, such as María de los Ángeles Duarte, who escaped justice after leaving the Argentine Embassy in Quito.

For the Bribery case, Correa must serve an eight-year prison sentence. Before being sentenced, the former president left the country and settled in Belgium where he remains as a refugee. Since the crime of bribery does not prescribe, Correa cannot return to Ecuador, because if he entered the national territory he would be arrested. Glas is also sentenced to eight years in prison.

The former vice president was sentenced to six years in prison in another case for illicit association. As determined by the court, Glas received USD 13.5 million in bribes from Odebrecht to award them contracts between 2010 and 2012. Glas was also sentenced, in two of the three instances that exist in the Ecuadorian justice system, to 8 years for the crime of embezzlement. in the Singue case, an oil block whose award, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, “caused millions of dollars in damage to the State.” Glas was a member of the Hydrocarbon Tender Committee that was in charge of the negotiation. However, on November 10, 2022, a court of the National Court of Justice annulled everything that was done in relation to this case, since due process was not followed.

Currently, Glas, who is imprisoned in the maximum security La Roca prison, is being investigated for embezzlement of funds and intimidation. The former vice president returned to prison after being captured inside the Mexican Embassy in Quito in April of this year. The action taken by the law enforcement forces, by order of President Daniel Noboa, caused the rupture of relations with Mexico and a mutual lawsuit before the International Court of Justice.

The measure, indicates the statement from the United States government, is part of that nation’s support for Ecuador’s efforts to promote transparency in government and combat corruption. The US government highlighted the role of civil society, law enforcement and Ecuadorian journalists in the fight against corruption. In addition, he reaffirmed his commitment to confronting global corruption, especially at the highest levels of power.