Ecuador’s arrested former vice president taken to hospital

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Ecuador’s detained former Vice President Jorge Glas was hospitalized on Monday after falling ill at a prison in the city of Guayaquil, according to the country’s prison agency.

Although the government says Glas suffered a “possible imbalance” due to the lack of food, his lawyer, Andres Villegas Pico, suggested that he took an overdose of medication in order to sleep.

In a statement published on X, the country’s prison agency SNAI said Glas was transferred to a nearby naval hospital. He fell ill "after refusing to eat food provided during the last 24 hours," it said, adding he was in stable condition.

In another statement, Villegas said his client had been found “unawakened” in his cell at 8.30 a.m.

“Security personnel claimed Glas had not wanted to eat food for the whole of Sunday. It is assumed he took an overdose of medication in order to sleep,” he added.

Villegas quoted the police report as saying that “a diagnosis of induced coma is presumed” but that he had “no further details of what happened, of his medical progress, or a clear diagnosis,” adding “he holds the government responsible for Glas' health.”

Glas was arrested Friday evening when Ecuadorian police stormed Mexico's embassy in Quito, which had granted him asylum. He is wanted by his country's justice system on corruption charges and had been taking refuge in the Mexican diplomatic headquarters since December. The 54-year-old politician was transferred on Saturday to a maximum-security facility known as La Roca, or “The Rock.”

The decision by Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa to order the raid on Mexico’s embassy drew condemnation from across the political spectrum in Latin America and Europe.

Noboa issued a statement on Monday afternoon claiming that he had “taken exceptional decisions in order to protect national security, the rule of law, and the dignity of a people who will not tolerate any kind of impunity for criminals, crooks, corrupt people or narco-terrorists.”