Ecuadorian ex-minister takes refuge in Venezuela

In the statement from the Argentine Foreign Ministry, it was indicated that former Minister Durarte, who had been in the diplomatic residence of the embassy for more than two years, went to Venezuela and said: “Mrs. Duarte is currently in Caracas and did not share with us why he made such a decision. There is no information that she went to her son. Durarte also has no intention of traveling to Argentina any time soon.

The Ecuadorian government, for its part, emphasized that Argentina made contradictory statements and claimed that the Argentine embassy did not share with them the security camera footage of how Duarte fled the country.

Duarte thanked Argentina in a post on his Twitter account, and reacted to the government of the former president of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, and current president Guillermo Lasso.

Recalling that the Ecuadorian government did not allow him to leave the country safely, Duarte said: “I decided to leave the embassy because the Ecuadorian government made me a political hostage. I had to risk it, but I took advantage of the right they gave me”.

Duarte, who was offered asylum by the Argentine government, was unable to leave the residence because the Ecuadorian government did not allow him to leave the country.

2012 – 2016 bribes

The investigation “Bribes 2012-2016”, led by Attorney General Diana Salazar, began with allegations of irregularities in the financing of the electoral campaigns of Alianza PAIS, headed by former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in 2012-2016.

The corruption allegations included the name of the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which was at the center of the biggest corruption scandal in Latin American history, as well as national and international companies.

Rafael Correa served as the President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017.

As part of the investigation “Bribes 2012-2016”, on August 9, 2019, the arrest warrant requested against Correa was approved. (AA)