ALBA-TCP Demands Respect for Jorge Glas’ Asylum Status

On Friday, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People's Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) demanded respect for the asylum status that Mexico granted to former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who was kidnapped by Ecuadorian security forces during the raid on the Mexican Embassy in Quito on April 5.

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"This action – previously condemned by ALBA-TCP and rejected by all the Latin American and Caribbean countries – is unjustifiable," said the institution which is currently led by Jorge Arreaza, who is the former foreign affairs minister of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

"ALBA-TCP shows its full support to Mexico in relation to the request for provisional measures filed before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) requesting, among others, that Ecuador refrain from actions that may prejudice Mexico's rights in any future decision that the ICJ may take on the case in question, and to avoid any act or conduct that may exacerbate the ongoing dispute," it added.

"The kidnapping of former Vice President Glas, as well as the subsequent treatment meted out to him, violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other rules of international law," the ALBA-TCP pointed out.

"The ALBA-TCP member countries strongly reject the crude use of lawfare and, in accordance with the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, the United Nations Charter and International Law, applaud the international legal actions taken to guarantee the life and integrity of former VP Glas," it stressed.

This integration organization also asked the Ecuadorian State to issue a safe-conduct so that Glas can benefit from the asylum granted by Mexico.

Currently, the former Ecuadorian vice president is detained in a maximum security prison after having remained practically incommunicado for several days. 

On Thursday night, Jorge Glas was able to attend a virtual hearing in which his lawyers requested a habeas corpus in his favor. The results of this procedure are not yet known.