Jorge Glas Citizenship Dispute Sparks Ecuador–Colombia Diplomatic Crisis

On September 16, 2025, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on X that former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas had been granted Colombian citizenship.

Petro posted a photograph of the naturalization act signed by Paula Andrea Perdomo Ramírez, the Colombian consul general in Quito, and demanded that Glas be handed over to Colombia as a step “for the peace of Latin American nations.”

Glas, vice president under Rafael Correa between 2007 and 2017, is one of the most prominent figures of the correísmo political movement. Petro has previously called him a “political prisoner,” signaling solidarity with Ecuador’s left-wing opposition.

Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry responded immediately, stating it had not received any official communication from Colombia about Glas’s naturalization. It stressed that Glas remains an Ecuadorian citizen and that the convictions against him remain in force.

Glas is currently serving multiple prison terms at La Roca, Ecuador’s maximum-security facility. In June 2025, he was sentenced to 13 years for embezzlement of funds intended for post-earthquake reconstruction in 2016.

He also faces earlier convictions for bribery and illicit association. His dramatic April 2024 arrest inside the Mexican Embassy in Quito, following his failed asylum bid, triggered a major diplomatic rupture with Mexico.

The Glas episode is only the latest sign of worsening relations between Quito and Bogotá. In July 2025, Ecuador transferred more than 700 Colombian prisoners across the border with little prior coordination. Colombia formally protested, calling the move “an unfriendly gesture” and a violation of international protocols.

Security tensions have also mounted along the frontier, as Colombian dissident groups such as the Comandos de la Frontera have expanded into Ecuadorian provinces, engaging in illegal mining and narcotrafficking.

On May 9, 2025, an ambush near Alto Punino, Napo province, killed 11 Ecuadorian soldiers. Ecuador has repeatedly militarized its border, including during February 2025 elections, citing threats from armed groups.

For Ecuador’s government under President Daniel Noboa, Glas’s convictions symbolize a commitment to fighting corruption. Accepting Colombia’s naturalization claim would undermine domestic courts and cede sovereignty.

For Petro and Colombia’s left, extending citizenship to Glas is both a humanitarian gesture and a political signal, framing him as a victim of “lawfare.”

The dispute goes beyond one politician. It reveals how fragile diplomatic trust has become between Ecuador and Colombia. Deportations, border insecurity, and now conflicting claims over nationality all point to a breakdown in cooperation.

If states begin to use citizenship and asylum as tools in ideological battles, established diplomatic and legal norms could unravel. For border communities, this risks more instability, less coordination against crime, and greater uncertainty in daily life.

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