Buenos Aires (EFE) Argentine diplomatic headquarters in Quito, official sources reported.
“Ms. Duarte Pesantes reported that she is currently in Caracas – without providing explanations about how she did it, or if she is with her son – and made inquiries about the documentation that our country could extend to her. Likewise, she stated that she had no intention of traveling to Argentina in the short term, ”said the Argentine Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The former Ecuadorian official appeared at the Argentine Embassy in Caracas at around 11:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday and was attended by the ambassador, Oscar Laborde, and by two other officials from the diplomatic headquarters, stated the statement from the Chancellery.
In a message posted on his Twitter profile, Duarte, who was part of the Rafael Correa Administration (2007-2017) and who had taken refuge in the embassy to avoid going to prison for a corruption conviction, thanked the South American country for having “sheltered her from the persecution of the governments of Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso.”
“I decided to leave the embassy because, by denying me the safe-conduct that corresponded to me as a political refugee, according to the Caracas convention of 1954, and preventing my safe exit (safe-conduct), the Ecuadorian government made me its political hostage,” wrote the ex-minister, adding that he had to leave “at risk”.
Duarte published his message after it became known that the Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Juan Carlos Holguín, had summoned the Argentine ambassador to that country, Gabriel Fuks, to answer questions about “the escape” of the former embassy official. Argentina in Quito.
According to the official Argentine version, during the past weekend, while the ambassador carried out “different tasks inherent to his diplomatic work”, “no presence” of Duarte was registered in the wing of the building where he lived, which was different from the official residence. of the Argentine representative in Quito.
Political asylum
The government of the Peronist Alberto Fernández communicated to the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry on December 1 its decision to grant asylum to Duarte, who had been staying at the Argentine embassy in Quito with her son since August 20, 2020.
However, the government of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso (center-right) opposed granting Duarte the safe-conduct that would allow her to leave Ecuador without being detained.
Duarte was sentenced in 2020 to eight years in prison for bribery as part of the “Bribes 2012-2016” case, an irregular financing plot of the then-government Alianza País movement, led by Correa, with improper contributions from companies that were not declared.
The former official, who held the Public Works portfolio between February 19, 2015 and January 6, 2017, considers herself to be politically persecuted and denies the charges against her, like Correa, who claims refugee status in Belgium, which blocks an extradition request from the Ecuadorian Justice.
Correa, who has lived in Belgium since 2017, has maintained a close relationship with the current Argentine president and with the vice president, Cristina Fernández.