Jorge Glas

Jorge David Glas Espinel (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxoɾ.xe ðaˈβið ɣlas espiˈnel]; born 13 September 1969) is an Ecuadorian politician and electrical engineer. He served as Vice President of Ecuador from 24 May 2013 – 13 December 2017. President Lenín Moreno suspended Glas of his official duties as Vice President on 3 August 2017. In December 2017, Glas was sentenced to six years imprisonment by a Criminal Tribunal of the National Court of Justice, for allegedly receiving over $13.5 million in bribes in the Odebrecht scandal.[1]

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Glas and the second or maternal family name is Espinel.
Jorge Glas
48th Vice President of Ecuador
In office
24 May 2013 – 3 January 2018[lower-alpha 1]
PresidentRafael Correa
Lenín Moreno
Preceded byLenín Moreno
Succeeded byMaría Alejandra Vicuña
Coordinating Minister of Strategic Sectors
In office
5 April 2010 – 10 November 2012
PresidentRafael Correa
Preceded byGalo Borja
Succeeded byRafael Poveda
Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society
In office
14 August 2009 – 3 April 2010
PresidentRafael Correa
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byJaime Guerrero
Personal details
Born
Jorge David Glas Espinel

(1969-09-13) 13 September 1969
Guayaquil, Ecuador
NationalityEcuadorian
Political partyPAIS Alliance
Spouse(s)Cinthia Díaz Aveiga
ParentsJorge Glas Viejó
Norma Espinel Aráuz
Alma materESPOL

Personal life

Jorge Glas was born 13 September 1969 in Guayaquil. He has known and been friends with president Correa since their time as boy scouts.[2]

Education

He holds a degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the ESPOL which he obtained on 22 September 2008.[3] National Assembly member for the Patriotic Society Party, Galo Lara, reported Glas on 3 January 2013 to the police for plagiarism in his thesis and for holding public office while not being qualified to do so. Lara said that Glas during his term as General Manager of the Solidarity Fund needed an academic title of the third degree, which Glas did not have.[3] Glas's thesis was reviewed by Genove Gneco, a professor from the Dominican Republic who found suspected plagiarism in four theses by top governmental officials in his own country, including then-President Danilo Medina. Gneco found 35% of Glas's thesis to be suspected plagiarism.[4] An investigation by a commission set up by ESPOL acquitted Glas of plagiarism. Glas however recognized that he should have cited his sources better.[5]

Since 2007 Glas has held several political appointments in the government of Rafael Correa. He was general manager of the now-closed Solidarity Fund between 2007 and 2009. The company was an amalgamation of several public companies of telecommunications and electricity generation and distribution. He was also president of the National Telecommunications Council.

Afterwards Glas was Minister of Telecommunications and later became Coordinating Minister of Strategic Sectors. He directed the merger of Andinatel S.A. and Pacifitel S.A. into the National Corporation of Telecommunications, a corporation of which he became the first chairperson.[6]

As Coordinating Minister of Strategic Sectors he was responsible for building several hydroelectric stations.[2]

Vice Presidency

Glas commenced his term as Vice President on 24 May 2013.[7]

On 4 August 2017, Glas was suspended from his duties as Vice President.[8][9][10][11][12] On December 15 Glas was sentenced to six years in prison for taking $13.5 million from Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht.[13]

On 2 January 2018, under Ecuador's Constitution's Article 146, as Glas was unable to exercise his office for 90 days, he was stripped of his office.[14] On 6 January 2018, María Alejandra Vicuña was formally sworn in as Vice President of Ecuador after the National Assembly voted to approve her for the position.

References
  1. Fergus Shiel; Sasha Chavkin (June 25, 2019). "Bribery Division: What is Odebrecht? Who is Involved?". International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  2. Araujo, Alberto (2013-01-23). "El hombre de los contratos millonarios" (in Spanish). El Comercio. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  3. "Asambleísta Lara dice que Jorge Glas ejercía su cargo cuando era bachiller" (in Spanish). El Universo. 2013-01-03. Archived from the original on 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  4. "Informe señala inconsistencias en tesis de Jorge Glas" (in Spanish). El Universo. 2013-01-09. Archived from the original on 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  5. "Jorge Glas dice que Espol ratifica validez de su tesis de grado" (in Spanish). El Universo. 2013-05-17. Archived from the original on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  6. Vinueza, Robertson (2012-11-10). "Jorge Glas es el candidato a la Vicepresidencia del Ecuador por la Alianza Pais" (in Spanish). Agencia Pública de Noticias del Ecuador y Suramérica. Archived from the original on 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-05-22.
  7. "Vicepresidentes en la historia" (PDF). www.vicepresidencia.gob.ec. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  8. "Vicepresidente Jorge Glas denuncia persecución política en su contra" (in Spanish). El Universo. August 7, 2017. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017.
  9. "Lenín Moreno retira de sus funciones al vicepresidente de Ecuador Jorge Glas" (in Spanish). CNN Espanol. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  10. "Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno Strips Vice President Jorge Glas Of All Functions". NDTV. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  11. "Presidente Lenín Moreno retira de todas sus funciones a Jorge Glas" (in Spanish). El Universo. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  12. "Ecuador leader strips vice president of powers due to corruption case". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  13. "Odebrecht case: Politicians worldwide suspected in bribery scandal". BBC News. BBC. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  14. "Ecuador's jailed vice president to be stripped of office". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  1. Suspended from 3 August 2017 until his removal from office. Powers and duties were transferred to María Vicuña.
Political offices
Preceded by
Lenín Moreno		 Vice President of Ecuador
2013–2017		 Succeeded by
María Vicuña
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