The arrest warrant for Rafael Correa is another case of political persecution.
Latin American politicians and academics consider the legal actions taken against former Ecuadorian head of state Rafael Correa as yet another case of persecution against progressive leaders in Latin America.
247, with Prensa Latina - This week Judge Daniela Camacho decided to order the preventive detention of the former Ecuadorian president for the alleged kidnapping in 2012 of then-legislator Fernando Balda, and issued a red alert for the International Police (Interpol) to arrest and extradite him to Quito.
'A systematic regional plan is underway that criminalizes progressivism in Latin America and carries out soft coups with the United States at the helm,' warned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel on his Twitter account.
This opinion was shared by the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who recalled the cases of former presidents Cristina Fernández of Argentina and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil.
Lula has been imprisoned for 90 days, accused of crimes he did not commit, in a maneuver that seeks to disqualify him from the upcoming presidential elections, in which he leads in all voting intentions.
'First Cristina. Then Lula. Now Rafael Correa. Let the persecution against authentic leaders of our America cease,' Maduro wrote on social media.
On repeated occasions, Correia has stated that the authorities have no evidence to link him to the Balda case and has insisted that it is a conspiracy against him.
From Bolivia, President Evo Morales expressed his solidarity with the leader of the Citizen Revolution and denounced the politicization of the Ecuadorian justice system and the intention to imprison an innocent man.
'We regret that defenders of the people, who fought to defend the rights of simple and humble people, are now being persecuted,' declared Bolivian Foreign Minister Fernando Huanacuni.
Former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya also expressed his support for Correa in the face of this 'witch hunt and its perpetrators'.
Zelaya was overthrown in 2009 by a coup orchestrated by the oligarchy, with the support of the United States.
'A new offensive filled with infamy and slander has been launched against President Rafael Correa,' Zelaya wrote on Twitter.
Correa's defense attorney, Caupolicán Ochoa, warned that he will appeal to the Ecuadorian Attorney General's Office and denounce the arbitrary actions and irregularities committed during the process.