BUENOS AIRES The President of the Argentina, Alberto Fernandezcalled his Ecuadorian counterpart’s decision grave, unfair and disproportionate. Guillermo LassoIn Withdraw Ecuadorian ambassador to Buenos Aires amid diplomatic crisis. The crisis arose with the flight to Venezuela of the former minister Maria de los Angeles Duarteescape from justice Ecuadorwho was housed in the Argentine embassy until March 14.
“In our embassy, a person enjoying complete freedom found himself a refugee. Argentina has no duty of care over them, nor the ability to restrict their movements,” Fernández said in a letter published on Twitter.
Duarte’s departure from the embassy “exceeds the will and decisionmaking capacity of Argentina’s diplomatic authorities,” he added.
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“The President’s overreaction to expelling the Argentine ambassador is what really detracts from the positive bond that Argentines and Ecuadorians successfully share,” he claimed. “The gravity and unfairness of this decision shows that it is its excess that is truly damaging to relations between our peoples.”
Fernández also called on Lasso to “seek out those in charge of his administration who have not made the necessary efforts to prevent the liberty of movement of a person whose capture they are calling for.”
Duarte, who was convicted of corruption in Ecuador, fled to Venezuela after escaping the Argentine embassy in Quito, where she had lived as a fugitive for more than two years with her teenage son, whose father is Argentine.
It used to be Lasso who sent a message to Fernández via Twitter. “I am very sorry that @alferdez, President of Argentina, has placed his personal friendship and political identity with @MashiRafael primarily on the fraternal relationship between the peoples of Argentina and Ecuador,” he said.
The former Ecuadorian minister was convicted along with the former president Raphael Correa who lives in Belgium and other former government officials accused of being part of a criminal structure that prosecutors say solicited nearly $7.6 million in bribes from companies in exchange for contracts with the state.
In December 2022, Ecuador refused the former minister, who was in charge of transport and public works, safe passage to leave the country and travel to Argentina, which had granted asylum. Today, and already on Venezuelan territory, Duarte said he has no intention of traveling to Argentina, the Buenos Aires ministerial note said.
After fleeing, Ecuador last week called its ambassador to Argentina for consultations, claiming inconsistencies in explanations of how the former minister managed to flee to Venezuela. This was also stated by the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ‘persona non grata’ the Argentine ambassador in Quito.
Meanwhile, Rafael Correa is in Buenos Aires to attend a human rights forum chaired by the Argentine President along with other former presidents./AFP