International
Justice of Ecuador revokes the ruling that declared the capture of Glas at the Embassy of Mexico illegal
An appeals court of Ecuador rejected this Friday in second instance the habeas corpus appeal that requested the immediate release of Jorge Glas, former vice president of Rafael Correa, and revoked the original ruling that described his detention within the Mexican Embassy in Quito, when the Government of this country had granted him asylum, as illegal and arbitrary.
The Specialized Administrative Litigation Chamber of the National Court of Justice agreed that Glas’s arrest, which occurred on April 5 in a police invasion of Mexico’s diplomatic headquarters condemned almost unanimously by the international community, was “legal, legitimate and not arbitrary,” according to Glas’s lawyers.
The court of first instance that reviewed the habeas corpus presented in favor of Glas had initially determined that the detention was illegal and arbitrary because the protocol of raids on foreign diplomatic delegations in Ecuador had not been respected, but kept Glas in prison pending the end of serving an eight-year prison sentence for two convictions (corruption and illicit association) in cases of corruption.
The sentence accepted the Government’s arguments, which say that the entry without permission at the Mexican Embassy in Quito sought to prevent the escape of a defendant on whom an arrest warrant weighed and who still had convictions in force.
The habeas corpus, promoted by lawyer Francisco Hidalgo, requested the Ecuadorian Justice to order the release of Glas and deliver him to Mexico or a third country willing to respect the asylum given to him by the Mexican Executive.
Glas, who rejects the charges against him and declares himself a politically persecuted, had arrived at Mexico’s diplomatic headquarters on December 17, 2023 to apply for asylum, when the Prosecutor’s Office was preparing to prosecute him for alleged embezzlement (embezzlement of public funds) in the reconstruction works after the devastating earthquake of 2016.
The Government of Mexico granted asylum to Glas in the midst of a crisis with Ecuador, whose president, Daniel Noboa, had expelled ambassador Raquel Serur after the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, related in statements the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio with Noboa’s electoral triumph.
After his capture, Glas was imprisoned in La Roca, the maximum security prison in Ecuador that is part of the Guayaquil penitentiary complex, a set of five prisons that since June 1 has suspended the food service by the supplier company.
The new sentence issued this Friday ordered the National Service of Comprehensive Care to Persons Deprived of Liberty (SNAI), the state penitentiary agency, to guarantee and teate the rights of Glas, “especially the right to life, health and integrity, in consideration of the current prison context.”
Glas, who also has German citizenship, was one of the strong men of the Correa Government (2007-2017), and between 2013 and 2017 he held the position of vice president, as well as during the first months of Lenín Moreno’s mandate (2017-2021), until investigations began against him.
“They never notified the composition of the court of appeal, they never made known. They didn’t even deign to mention who presented the amicus curiae,” lamented the former president.
Among the amicus curiae who had joined the appeal to provide arguments in favor of Glas’s petition were the Puebla Group, the Lawfare Observatory, the Argentine jurist Eugenio Zaffaroni and the former ambassador of Bolivia to the UN Sacha Llorenti.
“Everyone knows and has seen that it was done by pulverizing international law and Ecuadorian law. We will not stop denouncing this case until we reach his freedom,” Sacha Llorenti said on social network X this Friday.
Mexico and Ecuador have counterclaimed before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for the events that occurred on April 5, with mutual accusations of having transgressed international conventions and standards.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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