Images outside the Argentine embassy in Caracas a diplomatic spat between Ecuador and Argentina escalated after it was revealed that a convicted former cabinet minister, who had been living in the Argentine embassy, had escaped Quito to Venezuela. Maria de los Angeles Duarte, who served under former president Rafael Correa, was sentenced to eight years for bribery, but had been holed up in Argentina's embassy since August 2020 with her son, whose father is Argentine. Argentina had offered Duarte asylum, but Ecuador refused to grant her free passage out of the country. Duarte "was present in the Argentine embassy in Caracas" from 11:00 am on Tuesday 14 March, the Argentine foreign ministry said in a statement, without giving any details of how she had managed to escape to Venezuela. IMAGES