2024-09-07 22:30:45
In the Oversight Commission, Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, debunks the accusations within the impeachment brought by the Correa government. She says that it is not lawful to grant asylum to people prosecuted or convicted of common crimes and by competent courts, and she recalled that Jorge Glas is sentenced for bribery and embezzlement. She reported that Ecuador has not been officially notified to give (Glas) the safe conduct. “Mexico’s announcement was hasty,” she said. [Actualizada, 26 de julio de 2024; 15:45].
Today, July 26, 2024, in the Oversight Committee of the National Assembly, Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld refuted the accusations in the impeachment trial brought by Assemblywoman Jhajaira Urresta (Citizen Revolution).
The legislator accuses him of breaking bilateral relations between Mexico y Ecuador After the raid on the Mexican Embassy in Quito on April 5, 2024, the effects on Ecuadorian migrants living in that country, the refusal to grant safe conduct to the former vice president, Jorge Glas, and the impasse with the Government of Russia for the delivery of Russian military equipment to the United States.
First, the minister denied that the Asylum Convention contains the figure of “guest””; something that the Government of Mexico invoked to receive Glas at its Embassy in Quito on December 17, 2023, at a time when the State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) had requested his appearance for investigations in the “Reconstruction of Manabí” case.
“It is not lawful to grant asylum to persons prosecuted or convicted of common crimes by competent courts, according to the Vienna Convention of 1954,” the chancellor confirmed at the Oversight Committee.
He added: “We will not allow any criminal to go unpunished,” and recalled that Glas has been sentenced for the crimes of bribery and embezzlement.
In any case, the foreign minister said that, to date, Ecuador has not been officially notified to provide (the former vice president) with the safe conduct so that he can leave the country. “Mexico’s announcement was hasty,” said the official.
Sommerfeld then defended Glas’s detention, which he said is supported by a habeas corpus petition from the National Court of Justice that ruled that the April 5 arrest was legitimate and not arbitrary.
In her defense, the minister denied having assumed any functions, and invoked article 416 of the Constitution which states that “Ecuador’s relations with the international community will respond to the interests of the Ecuadorian people, to whom those responsible and those executing it will be accountable.”
The statements of the President of Mexico about Fernando Villavicencio
The Minister also recalled in the Oversight Committee the statement issued on April 3, 2024, by the President of Mexico, Manuel López Obrador, where he questioned the early elections in Ecuador in October 2023 in which the President of the Republic, Daniel Noboa, was elected, and also that he distorted the facts relating to the murder of Fernando Villavicencio, which occurred on August 9, 2023.
“The statements of the Mexican president were aggravated by the fact that they were made in the midst of an internal armed conflict (in Ecuador); Mexico has not retracted its statement and continues to disrespect the dignity and sovereignty of Ecuador.”
He added that the impeachment is not against the foreign minister, but against Ecuador. “The accusations, which were also refuted in a letter I sent to the Commission, have to do with acts outside my office,” he said.
He added that the person requesting the interpellation did not justify the reasons, and that it lacks legal and factual grounds. “The request for trial lacks motivation, and violates article 76 of the Constitution,” he said.
In the substantiation of the evidence as part of the impeachment, Jhajaira Urresta, argued that Sommerfeld violated the provisions of the Constitutionthe Vienna Conventionthe Charter of the Organization of American States, the Organic Law of the Foreign Service and the Law on Diplomatic Immunities, Privileges and Franchises.
He also said that the Foreign Minister was obliged to grant Glas safe conduct after receiving political asylum from the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López.
According to the legislator, the failure to grant Glas a safe-conduct permit violates articles 41, 417 and 424 of the Constitution and the direct application of international treaties.
He added that, in the case of the Mexican Embassy, which is being discussed in the International Court of Justice in Hagueand according to information from the State Attorney General’s Office (PGE), the payment to the lawyers defending Ecuador’s thesis is 2,380 dollars an hour. “The 5 million that are allocated to defend Ecuador could have been used for security or to pay the debt to Solca,” he said.
Regarding the bilateral impasse between Russia and Ecuador, Urresta accuses her because the government’s decision implied a serious economic damage to Ecuador Russia has reportedly taken measures to prevent the import of bananas and carnations, as a result of the delivery of Russian war material to the United States, which it has classified as scrap metal.
At this point, the legislator also referred to the fact that in the official records of the Directorate of Registration of Qualified Suppliers and Strategic Goods of the country within the General Coordination of Strategic Goods, the father of the minister, Patricio Sommerfeld, would appear as an arms dealer operating in the country and would be the representative in an aeronautical industry in Israel, where aeronautical systems are produced for civil and military use as weapons, as described on the International Astronautical Federation website, Urresta explained.
According to the speaker of the trial, the Sommerfeld family would also have been close to the then governments of Lenín Moreno, Guillermo Lassoand the current one, of President Daniel Noboa, in contracts with the State regarding military equipment.
“It is serious if you, Madam Minister, have involved the country in two diplomatic crises, either due to ignorance or due to a macabre conflict of family interests; you have to give explanations to the country,” he said.
For Urresta, it is proven that the minister has failed to fulfill her duties because she signed a sworn statement where it is stated that she cannot be the direct or indirect owner of assets or capital in tax havens. Furthermore, if she has a conflict of interest, she cannot serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He added that his complaint should be investigated by state entities. “What is in your hands, members of the assembly, is a valuable decision, to dismiss and censure an official clearly accused of corruption who has not acted under the favor or interests of the Ecuador“, he said.
“It is more than proven that the minister has failed to fulfill her duties for three reasons, perhaps due to ignorance, conflict of interest, or professional insensitivity.” Urresta presented 35 audiovisual, documentary and testimonial pieces of evidence.
In the midst of the impeachment process, the ruling party National Democratic Action (ADN), issued a statement questioning the inclusion of testimonies that were not previously announced. (SC)
By: LA HORA Newspaper