Jailed Ecuador VP says he is target of construction giant’s revenge

Ecuador’sVice-President Jorge Glas, in jail pending a criminal investigationinto allegations that he took $16mn in bribes from Brazil’s Odebrecht,has told AFP that he is a victim of revenge by the construction giant.Glason October 2 became the highest-ranking serving politician to go downas a suspected recipient of illegal kickbacks from the Brazilian groupfor helping it get public contracts.Under investigation by the USJustice Department, Odebrecht agreed in December to pay a record $3.5bnfine after admitting to paying $788mn in bribes across 12 countries tosecure juicy tenders.“I have never committed any crime. And a personwho does not commit a crime never expects to see himself in a situationlike this,” he told AFP in an interview at Quito’s Penitentiary 4.Askedabout the motivation for him being investigated, Glas said it all wentback to a clash with the head of Odebrecht, whom he said was gettingpayback after it was thrown out of Ecuador in 2008.“Obviously,(Marcelo) Odebrecht planned his revenge from the very day I asked him toget out, when he refused to repair the San Francisco hydroelectricplant,” Glas said.“Marcelo Odebrecht met me, and hinted that we wereusing him politically to win votes. I threw him out of my office,shoved him out ... he threatened me and said, ‘You’re not always goingto be a public servant, you’ll see’, and he left.”Glas is just thelatest political figure in Latin America to be identified as a suspectedrecipient of bribes from the Brazilian group.Fallout from thescandal has cast a cloud over politicians in several other countries,including Mexico, Peru, Panama and Venezuela.Glas, who was ministerof strategic sectors before becoming vice-president in 2013, has deniedany link to the Odebrecht scandal, though his uncle, Ricardo Rivera, hasbeen arrested for his alleged involvement.