Gabriel Fuks, during an official event in Argentina, in September 2020. Government of Argentina
Hours after returning to Buenos Aires from Bogotá, where he arrived after being expelled as ambassador by the Government of Ecuador, the Argentine Gabriel Fuks denies any complicity with the flight from the diplomatic headquarters of María Ángeles Duarte, the former minister of Rafael Correa who has taken refuge in the residence since August 2020 after being convicted of corruption.
Fuks accuses the Guillermo Lasso Administration of "lying" to cover up his internal political problems.
In this telephone interview with EL PAÍS, the diplomat considers that he was "insulted and mistreated" by the highest Ecuadorian authorities.
Ask.
With what feeling do you return to Buenos Aires after everything that has happened?
Answer:
I think that diplomacy in Latin America has a very strong deterioration and this is an indicator.
Diplomacy is the last thread to be cut in the face of a crisis and it is no longer like that.
We saw it in Mexico, with the expulsion of the ambassador in Peru by Dona Boluarte;
and now in Ecuador, where without any proof, only with conjectures and many lies, in 48 hours they expel me.
Q.
How was that meeting with the Ecuadorian authorities after Duarte's escape?
A.
After [Argentine, Santiago] Foreign Minister Cafiero reported the situation, I was summoned to a meeting, just me with seven local officials: the head of the National Police, the Secretary of the Presidency, the foreign minister by virtual communication, the Vice Chancellor and three minor officials I don't remember.
It was all in a disrespectful tone, shouting and not letting me speak.
Q.
Do you think that the forms were undiplomatic?
A.
Not only that.
They mistreated me, they insulted me.
The secretary of the Presidency entered shouting saying 'the Argentines have it all armed'.
Q.
Ecuador accuses you of not delivering the recordings from the embassy's security cameras.
R.
When they ask me for the cameras, I remind them that any file that is in a diplomatic delegation is inviolable.
That is why I tell you that I am going to consult with my superiors, because I could not make the decision to hand over the recordings.
The next morning they headline 'Fuks refused to hand over the cameras'.
I never said that he was not going to deliver them.
In fact, I consulted with the chancellor and the chancellor consulted with the president.
Furthermore, Duarte was not my prisoner and he even had the good sense not to tell me what he was going to do, so as not to get me involved.
In different media there was even talk of the participation of Cuban intelligence, Venezuelans who were never there.
Q.
Are you referring to the guests at a barbecue that was held at the embassy prior to the ex-minister's escape?
R.
That barbecue was to fire Colonel Ochoa, the embassy's military attaché.
There was no outside guest.
I don't know if Duarte chose that day [to leave the embassy] because there was a barbecue.
He could have chosen the day of the World Cup final, when there were 1,300 people in the residence and 200 parked cars.
Or the first Wednesday of each month, when there is a tango milonga with 60 people.
Q.
Ecuador also says that you requested the withdrawal of a police car to liberate the area.
R.
The embassy is located on a street of about 30 meters that ends at the residence.
And he has an Ecuadorian national police officer in custody.
On the outside there was a patrol car right at the gate.
I asked what they were doing and they told me 'citizen security'.
So I asked them to move it ten meters, because it seemed that they were guarding us, and they did so.
A police car stands guard in front of the residence of the Argentine ambassador in Quito on March 15, 2023. RODRIGO BUENDIA (AFP)
Q.
In what condition was Duarte at the embassy when you arrived as ambassador?
R.
I had been a humanitarian guest for a year and a half.
In December 2022, the president communicated the decision of the Argentine State to grant him asylum.
Q.
Why did Duarte decide to go to the Argentine embassy in Caracas?
A.
Another lie.
While in Caracas, she has a meeting with Ambassador Oscar Laborde to see the legal situation of his son, who is Argentine.
The ambassador received it, took note of the situation and reported, that's all.
She is not at the Argentine embassy in Caracas and the only connection was that meeting.
Q.
And do you know where he is now?
R.
In Caracas, because she expressed it in a tweet, but I am not in contact with her.
Q.
Do you think that the relationship with the Lasso government was already bad before this incident?
A.
In December, when President Fernández granted Duarte asylum, the reaction was quite harsh.
Less than this, but I was subjected to confrontations.
Q.
How do you interpret Ecuador's reaction?
R.
I do not underestimate what happened, but if someone lies to break relations with a country that has an important role in the region, where there are 15,000 Ecuadorian students, which has 1,100 million dollars in exchange and in less than 48 hours it was taken a decision like the one that was made, was not by my action.
They don't have a single piece of evidence that I helped with the escape or that I participated in a conspiracy.
Q.
And how is this going, in diplomatic terms?
R.
I hope that Ecuador does not escalate the crisis, because we have never escalated it.
Q.
How could it be worse?
R.
They could continue with a chain of slander in the style of what they are doing.
Foreign Minister [Juan Carlos] Olguín spoke well of me and now
I'm like a plague from the Middle Ages.
Ecuador has its own problems, the president is at risk of impeachment and his action was motivated by internal political issues.
Q.
Was there a conversation between the Argentine president and the Ecuadorian foreign minister?
R.
It existed and it was with my phone.
Since Lasso refused, Fernández spoke with Olguín when they were handing me the expulsion decree.
He made an effort to tell her that he was willing to evaluate all the issues.
Olguín limited himself to telling him that he would consult with Lasso.
Q.
What is the first thing you will do when you land in Buenos Aires?
R.
Sleep for three days, because I haven't slept for a week.
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