Former Ecuador vice president hospitalized but stable, prisons agency says

Ecuador's detained former Vice President Jorge Glas was taken to hospital on Monday after he fell ill at a prison in Guayaquil, prison authorities said, just hours after his lawyers complained they had been unable to contact him. Glas fell ill "after refusing to eat food provided (in the jail) during the last 24 hours," the statement said. He was in stable condition, the statement added.

Ecuador's detained former Vice President Jorge Glas was taken to hospital on Monday after he fell ill at a prison in Guayaquil, prison authorities said, just hours after his lawyers complained they had been unable to contact him. Glas, already twice convicted of corruption and now facing fresh charges, was arrested on Friday after a raid by police on Mexico's Quito embassy, where he had been living since December.

In a statement published on X, the SNAI prison agency said Glas had been taken to the naval hospital in Guayaquil around noon local time. Glas fell ill "after refusing to eat food provided (in the jail) during the last 24 hours," the statement said.

He was in stable condition, the statement added. The unusual raid took a simmering spat between the two countries to a boiling point, leading Mexico to suspend diplomatic relations with Ecuador and drawing criticism from countries around the region and world.

Ecuador has defended its violation of sovereign Mexican territory at the embassy, arguing the North American country cannot grant Glas asylum if he is facing charges, and that Ecuador had information about an imminent escape plan.