Former Ecuadorian Vice President Strikes To Eat In Prison After The Drama Of The Raid At The Mexican Embassy

UNSPLASH/Humberto Portillo ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The former vice president of Ecuador broke down to eat in prison, following the increasing impact of the raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito.

Former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas on Wednesday, April 10 began a hunger strike in prison with the maximum safety of Guayaquil, where he has been detained since Saturday, April 6, a member of his team told CNN.

"He was in a hole, without light," the source said.

On Monday, April 8, Glas was hospitalized after refusing to eat the food he was given to him in prison, Ecuador's national prison agency SNAI said. He returned to prison the next day after being discharged from the hospital.

Glas was jailed on Saturday, April 6, the day after Ecuadorian police arrested him in a controversial raid on the Mexican embassy in Quito, where he sought political asylum after being accused of corruption by Ecuadorian prosecutors. Glas has denied the allegations.

Glas previously served five years in prison for bribery and criminal conspiracy before being released at the end of 2022.

However, in December 2023, he was sentenced to six more years in prison in a corruption case involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, currently known as Novonor.

Glas took refuge at the Mexican Embassy in the same month, before his official arrest warrant was issued. On April 5, 2024, Mexico decided to give Glas political asylum. Ecuador called Mexico's decision illegal and demanded the politician's extradition.