MEXICO CITY, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Mexico is still following through with its offer of political asylum to Ecuador's former vice president Jorge Glas, who remains imprisoned in his home country, Mexican Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Barcena said Monday.
The official confirmed at a press conference that Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador received a letter from Glas sent from a prison in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, in which the Ecuadorian politician requests Mexico's intervention in his case.
This is "what we are doing: going to different agencies, including the Human Rights Council," Barcena told reporters attending the Mexican president's daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City.
"We continue to take steps ... to have Jorge Glas handed over to us through safe passage," she added.
Glas, who was holed up at Mexico's embassy in Quito after applying for asylum, was arrested on April 5 after Ecuadorian police stormed the diplomatic outpost.
His arrest, amid accusations of alleged corruption, came just hours after the Mexican government granted him asylum. Mexico subsequently severed ties with Ecuador and closed its embassy there.
On April 11, Mexico filed a formal complaint against Ecuador at The Hague-based International Court of Justice, requesting among other things that the Andean country be suspended from the United Nations unless it makes amends for violating international law. ■
