Since 1998, Ecuador supports dual citizenship
 

A copy of the Ecuadorian passport of Mr. Serrano and the page sealed by Migration in its admission to Ecuador in August 2000.

Mr. Serrano was illegally deported from his country of birth despite being a citizen of Ecuador. Art. 11 of the Constitution in force since 1998, reads: ".... Ecuadorians by birth who are naturalized or have been naturalized in another country, may maintain Ecuadorian citizenship. The State shall endeavor to protect Ecuadorian citizens who are abroad. No Ecuadorian will be deported from his own country."

However, the former Attorney General of Ecuador had stated that:

 

• Although the Constitution granted dual citizenship, it is required to formally express to the State Department one’s wishes to recover the Ecuadorian citizenship. However, Mr. Serrano did so in May 2000 at the Consulate of Miami, while he requested and was granted his Ecuadorian passport after presenting his Ecuadorian citizenship identification.

• The passport was obtained fraudulently on the basis of a birth certificate. This is inconceivable because the citizenship identification card is a prerequisite for a passport, and Mr. Serrano’s passport carries the same number as the ID card.

• Mr. Serrano should have complied with section 16.4 of the Ministerial Agreement 343 published in December 2002, which states that a request must be expressed formally to the State Department for the reinstatement of citizenship through the formality of an application valued at USD 10.00 and then another USD 40.00. Please note that this Agreement was published 219 days after the Mr. Serrano had already indicated his willingness before the Consulate in Miami and already RECEIVED his Ecuadorian passport, meeting all the requirements in force as of that date. Indeed, it is also noteworthy that no Ministerial Agreement may be over the Constitution itself.

 

But that changed when the following Attorney General, Dr. Garaicoa, assuming the core role of his department to defend the rights and dignity of Ecuador, and in an act that demonstrated his honesty, intervened in the case and started making the necessary actions aimed at strengthening the defense of Mr. Serrano and to investigate the illegal acts that occurred in Ecuador during his abduction and unlawful transfer to Florida.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

”The Ombudsman comes forward in defense of SERRANO”, Diario HOY, 28-Nov-2006

THE CONSTITUTION GUARANTEES DUAL CITIZENSHIP, BUT NOT THE DEPORTATION  OF AN ECUADORIAN CITIZEN AS A U.S. CITIZEN.

 

The Ombudsman, Claudio Mueckay, recognized the Ecuadorian citizenship of Nelson Serrano, who was sentenced to death by a jury of the U.S.. The Ombudsman announced yesterday that his representative in the State of Florida, Franklin del Castillo, will communicate with the defense lawyers "of the Ecuadorian" Serrano.
Mr. Castillo met with the Consulate General in Miami, Marcel Feraud, and began to coordinate with the Ecuadorian Embassy in Washington a joint defense strategy to impact the trial judge before she issued the final verdict. At the moment, there is the recommendation of the jury for four death sentences since being accused of murdering four people in 1997.

The criterion of Mueckay on the Ecuadorian citizenship of Serrano, who is also a U.S. citizen, is in contrast with the position maintained since 2002 by the then Chief of Police of Pichincha, Victor Hugo Olmedo, to deport him to the U.S..

The Chief of Police based his ruling on the grounds that, to become naturalized as a U.S. citizen, Serrano lost his Ecuadorian citizenship.

Olmedo claimed that the businessman was as an illegal in the country, despite the fact that he had entered Colombia with a passport issued by the Ecuadorian Consulate in Miami. (AA)