Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Carlos Holguin reported Monday (March 13) that a former minister convicted of corruption, who had taken refuge in the Argentinian embassy in Quito, fled, urging Argentina to provide an explanation. .
Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said in a statement to his Ecuadorian counterpart, Juan Carlos Holguin, that "
Mrs. Maria Duarte escaped from the Argentine Embassy in Quito
."
Eight years in prison
The Argentinian ambassador, Gabriel Fuks, was "
immediately summoned
" to provide "
more details
" on the escape of Maria Duarte, who had taken refuge in the Argentinian embassy in Quito in August 2020, after being sentenced to eight years in prison for corruption by the Ecuadorian justice system, the statement said.
The former Minister of Transport and Public Works had been sentenced, along with former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa (in exile in Belgium) and other former government officials, for her role in a scheme set up to to pay nearly $7.6 million in bribes to companies in exchange for state contracts, according to the prosecutor's office.
Pass refused
In December 2022, Ecuador refused to grant the ex-minister safe conduct which would have allowed him to leave the country and reach Argentina, where he was granted asylum.
This dispute, recognized at the time Carlos Holguin, constituted a “
setback
” in the diplomatic relations of the two countries.
"
Ecuador urged Argentina to provide explanations and demanded the transmission of information
," said Carlos Holguin, adding that he "
will take the most appropriate measures in the face of this incident
".
Former socialist president Rafael Correa and his collaborators at the time unanimously reject the decisions of the Ecuadorian courts and claim, for their part, to be the object of political persecution.
