Ecuador’s foreign minister referred to the diplomatic crisis with Argentina: “We hope that this impasse will soon be resolved”

Ecuador hopes to overcome the diplomatic crisis with Argentina “soon”after the two nations withdrew their ambassadors amid questions from Quito over the escape of a former minister convicted of corruption and who was taking refuge in that country’s diplomatic residence.

“We hope that this impasse will soon be resolved,” the foreign minister said. Juan Carlos Holguin in a channel interview ecuavisa.

The head of Ecuadorian diplomacy added that “a diplomatic break with Argentina (…) would be a counterproductive measure because of the large number of Ecuadorians we have” in this country and because of the “relations trade that exist.

The day before, Ecuador called its ambassador to Argentina and declared the Argentine ambassador in Quito persona non grata, Gabriel Fuchs.

The crisis occurred after Maria de los Angeles Duarte -a former minister sentenced to eight years in prison- fled to Venezuela from the Argentine diplomatic headquarters in Quito, where she had taken refuge since August 2020.

“Ms. Duarte Pesantes indicated that she was currently in Caracas – without providing any explanation as to how she had done so, or if she was with her son – and inquired about the documents that our country could Likewise, he stated that he had no intention of visiting Argentina in the short term,” reads the statement issued by the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Buenos Aires responded to Quito’s decision along the same lines and declared the ambassador persona non grata Xavier Monge.

Due to the crisis, the Ecuadorian government “has had conversations with President (Alberto) Fernández at a high level over the past few hours,” Holguín said.

He specified that for the moment Ecuador would keep its charge d’affaires only in Argentina.

The Argentine Foreign Ministry defends that “there is no international norm that obliges the Argentine diplomatic authorities to exercise custody of Duarte”.

However, Quito maintains that “In the best case, there was negligence in the care of the lady (Duarte) and in the worst case, there was complicity in her flight”according to statements from Holguín.

Argentina had offered asylum to the former minister, but the Ecuadorian government refused her safe conduct to leave in December.

Duarte was sentenced along with the former socialist president Raphael Correa -asylum in Belgium- and other former government officials for being part of a criminal structure that demanded bribes of nearly $7.6 million from companies in exchange for contracts with the State, according to the prosecution.

Correa (2007-2017) and former collaborators reject the court decisions and see them as political persecution of the current right-wing government.

The government of Peronist Alberto Fernández communicated on December 1 to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs its decision to grant the asylum to Duarte, who had been staying at the Argentine Embassy in Quito with his son since August 20, 2020.

However, the Lasso government opposed the granting of safe conduct to Duarte this would allow her to leave Ecuador without being detained.

The former civil servant, who held the portfolio of Public works between February 19, 2015 and January 6, 2017, she considers herself politically persecuted and denies the charges against her.

(With information from AFP)

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