Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry reaffirmed on Tuesday the position that the country’s former vice president Jorge Glass will not be allowed safe passage or exit from the territory, rejecting a request for this submitted by the government of Mexico, in the first official communication since the severance of diplomatic relations. four months ago.

Amid international outcry, Mexico cut diplomatic ties with Ecuador in April after the Andean nation’s security forces stormed the Mexican embassy to arrest Mr. Glass, who had taken refuge at its diplomatic mission in Quito in December. after the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador granted him political asylum.

Ecuadorian diplomacy responded to the request by essentially reissuing a press release it had issued in April and informing reporters via WhatsApp that Quito was “reaffirming” its position.

Mr. Glass, still in prison, has been asked by Mexican diplomacy to be released and transferred to a “safe” location, then to be allowed “safe passage” to a third country so he can go to Mexico under the Caracas Convention for diplomatic asylum. The request, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said, was made due to the “critical” state of his health.

Mr. Glass attempted to kill himself after his arrest in April, according to his lawyer.

Ecuador’s Supreme Court ruled a few days after his arrest that, although his arrest was “illegal”, he should remain in prison because of his previous convictions.

Mr. Glass has been convicted twice in corruption cases and is facing a new criminal trial. The person concerned characterizes the prosecutions against him as political persecution.