COLOMBIA:A group of Ecuadorean opposition lawmakers fled to Colombia to seek protection from what they see as political persecution from President Rafael Correa's government, one of the legislators said yesterday.
The 15 members of congress left Ecuador after a prosecutor ordered them investigated for threatening national security following their clash with Mr Correa over his plans to rewrite the constitution, lawmaker Gloria Gallardo said in Bogotá.
A judge must decide whether to approve the arrest order for the lawmakers, Ms Gallardo said, but she branded the investigation politically motivated and said the legislators would seek asylum if the magistrate ordered their detention.
"There are no guarantees for due process in our country," she said by telephone from a Bogotá hotel. "If the judge opens a penal process and the arrest warrant goes ahead, then undoubtedly we will have to seek asylum."
Mr Correa had threatened to arrest the lawmakers, but later softened his tone to call the arrest moves "untimely" and urged supporters in congress not to press their petition for an investigation.
The lawmakers planned to meet with representatives from Colombia's congress and the foreign ministry yesterday. Ecuador is caught up in institutional turmoil after 57 opposition lawmakers were fired and replaced by pro-Correa substitutes last month for resisting the left-wing leader's proposal to curb the influence of traditional parties.
Constitutional court judges ruled to reinstate 50 lawmakers this week, only to be dismissed themselves by the new congress, further fuelling political tensions with Mr Correa's three-month-old government.
A US-trained economics professor, Mr Correa is popular for challenging political elites whom many blame for the turmoil that has toppled three presidents in the last decade. - (Reuters)