Former Ecuador vice president Jorge Glas evacuated from prison News
Edjoerv, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Former Ecuador vice president Jorge Glas evacuated from prison

Authorities evacuated Ecuadorian former vice president Jorge Glas from prison on Sunday following a series of incidents in La Roca maximum security facility in Guayaquil.

Sources confirmed incidents at La Roca, as prisoners mutinied and burned both mattresses and newspapers. This was allegedly done in an attempt against the ex-vice president’s life. The National Service of Integral Attention to Adults Deprived of their Liberty and Adolescent Offenders (SNAI) stated that Jorge Glas has already been reintroduced in prison following the necessary operations. Jorge Glas’ lawyer, Sonia Gabriela Vera García, asserted the assassination attempt was “the result of a State that has condemned him to danger, torture and slow death.” She added that “if anything happens to him, it will be a crime of the State.” Sonia Vera also urged international organizations to intervene.

Government officials regarded the incidents in La Roca prison as “a strategy to destabilize order and peace in the country.” This comes as the National Armed Forces complete operations to control the presence of weapons, munitions and explosives in the prison’s cells. SNAI stated that Jorge Glas had been evacuated to ensure his well-being and bodily integrity.

Jorge Glas was detained in April 2024, during the raid of the Mexican embassy in Ecuador. Despite controversies regarding the legality of the arrest, the National Court of Justice of Ecuador ruled in favor of his incarceration. Glas was initially convicted of bribery and corruption in 2017, due to his participation in the Oderbrecht scandal. International organizations have intervened in Glas’ case. In November 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture claimed Ecuador should investigate alleged torture of the former vice president.

Ecuador is currently facing an unstable political climate, with elections are expected to take place in February.

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