AP Interview: Correa Says No Plans to Return to Ecuador

In an interview Correa said he had no plans to report to Ecuadoran authorities investigating his possible links with a botched, brief 2012 kidnapping of a lawmaker.

US News - Raf Casert 06/07/2018

Former President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa reacts during an interview with The Associated Press, at his family home close to Brussels, Belgium, Thursday July 5, 2018. Correa called Ecuador’s demand that he is extradited from Belgium and jailed, just a power ploy by the Ecuador government in an effort to stamp out opposition. (Mark Carlson/AP Photo)

LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE, Belgium (AP) — Former President Rafael Correa on Thursday called Ecuador's demand for him to be jailed and extradited from Belgium just a power ploy by the government to stamp out opposition, adding that it will instead push him back to the forefront of politics.

In an interview with The Associated Press from his family home close to Brussels, Correa said he had no plans to report to Ecuadoran authorities investigating his possible links with a botched, brief 2012 kidnapping of a lawmaker.

Ecuador's chief prosecutor this week demanded Correa's arrest and extradition after the 55-year-old former leader failed to appear at court in Ecuador's capital as required under the terms of the investigation.

Correa said the case was politically motivated to put him in jail or keep him from coming back. "I cannot go back to Ecuador during the next eight to 10 years," if the case continues to run its course, he said.

He added that Ecuador was no longer a fully functioning democracy and insisted the government had full control over the judicial branch.

"There is no division of power. Everything is controlled by the government," he said. "There is no independent justice in Ecuador anymore."

Meanwhile, Correa's protege-turned-rival, President Lenin Moreno, spoke at a news conference in Quito and denied any political persecution of Correa, urging him to return home to face justice.

"The only thing we want is that there is truth and justice, nothing more," he said.