The Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Juan Carlos Holguinconfirmed this March 17, 2023 that Gabriel Fuchswho acted as ambassador of Argentina in Quito, will leave the country.
Fuks’ departure responds to the end of the “prudent time” granted by the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry on March 14. That day, Ecuador declared it ‘persona non grata’ to be found inconsistencies in the information you provided regarding the leak of the ex-minister Maria de los Angeles Duarte from the Argentine Embassy.
“Let him go quickly. He leaves today, at 10:00 because that gentleman was not only accomplice of Duarte’s departure, but rather that he has lied to us from Monday to Wednesday, and not once but on several occasions,” Holguín criticized in an interview for FM mundo.
It was the Argentine president himself Alberto Fernandez and the chancellor of that country, santiago cafierowho they denied to Fuks, according to the Ecuadorian official. In previous interviews, he stated that there was communication between the presidents of Ecuador and Argentinaas well as talks with his Argentine counterpart about the escape of Duarte.
Without specifying names, Holguín said that on Tuesday, March 14, “versions from high-ranking Argentine authorities determined that they were aware that Duarte He has not been at the Embassy since Saturday (March 11th)”.
That is why the Ecuadorian foreign minister reiterated that in the best of cases there was negligence in the custody of Duarte, by the Argentine Embassy, and in the worst case there were complicity de Fuks.
Questioning Rafael Correa
On the other hand, Holguín questioned the statements that the former president Rafael Correa gave to El Tiempo, where he said that Duarte “had to leave because they denied him the safe passage” in Ecuador.
«(Guillermo) Lasso has refused to give him the safe-conduct, which he had the obligation to give him. He has used her as a hostage. He has sent us to warn: if you support me in this, we could leave her libre. And what María did is leave the Embassy,” Correa said.
That the former president knows details of the departure of his former minister “makes him an accomplice of a crime”, the Chancellor maintained, taking up the criteria of the Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón.
“A few days ago, (Correa) issued a threat after a large investment agreement was signed on a development project. solar energy, warning that he will destroy everything subsequently. These messages are the ones that attempt against the stability of the country,” he said.
Ecuador questions attitudes of Gabriel Fuks
Holguín said that there is a fact that has always attracted attention. In 2021, before Holguín became foreign minister, Argentina requested the approval for Fuks and Ecuador delivered it.
Fuks did not get the approval of the Argentine Senate to come to Ecuador, there is public information that he overcame that by accepting that the kirchnerista wing of the senate demands unlock Duarte’s situation in Ecuador, according to Holguín. He tried to ask a question on the subject, but it was denied.
The Argentine representative arrived in the country and issued statements in the framework of the placement of the bust of Néstor Kirchner in the Argentine Plaza in Quito. He spoke of court cases in Ecuador, the Foreign Ministry asked him to stop making statements about the “independence of justice” in Ecuador.
Subsequently, Fuks spoke again, on the bribery case. He was again summoned to the Foreign Ministry and three minutes after the meeting, he was asked to leave the entity.
“It’s not just about what happened in the leakthere is a previous process that made us confirm the withdrawal of the trust of the Ecuadorian State in this gentleman”, he concluded.