(CNN Spanish) — After the initiation of an investigation launched by the Ecuadorian Attorney General’s Office in January for an alleged corruption scheme within the Government, called Caso Encuentro, President Guillermo Lasso said Tuesday night in a message to the nation that his patience has a limit.
Given the attacks he is receiving from different sectors, he warned about the risks that, according to the president, his government is facing.
“There are State institutions concerned with overthrowing the Government and, even worse, releasing criminals. Yes, I mean it loud and clear. There are State institutions concerned about their own interests or whims, that do not act in defense of you Ecuadorians”, warned President Lasso.
The president reiterated that there is no “corruption structure, plot or network” in his government and that an “absurd, false, fallacious and insulting cartoon” is being mounted on the investigation carried out by the State Attorney’s Office. In addition, he indicated that from the opposition his actors are seeking to generate chaos to “return to the country of the mafias,” he specified.
“Governing a country like Ecuador is not easy, governing with the constant attack of drug traffickers, terrorists and organized crime is not only difficult,” said Lasso.
The investigation, called by the Prosecutor’s Office as the Encounter Case, covers the public companies Petroecuador, the National Electricity Corporation, the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet and the Ecuadorian Electric Corporation, according to reports from the Prosecutor’s Office. It also includes alleged links between officials, former officials and individuals in the granting of positions and contracts with companies irregularly.
Since January, the Prosecutor’s Office has carried out various raids on homes and institutions in the context of this case.
Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso speaks to the press after casting his ballot during local elections at the Ileana Espinel Cedeño school in Guayaquil, Ecuador on February 5, 2023. (Credit: MARCOS PIN/AFP via Getty Images)
On the other hand, during his message, the president questioned a local digital media called La Posta for its disclosures related to the Encuentro Case. Lasso affirmed that the digital site is interested in “monetizing the scandal” and asked that they not confuse “press freedom with debauchery.” The digital media described Lasso’s response as a “police and intimidating attitude.”
In the midst of the investigations into the Encuentro Case, President Lasso faced a cabinet crisis in recent days after the electoral setback in the sectional elections and the referendum. Lasso accepted the resignations of several of his officials and appointed others.
On February 5, citizens broadly rejected the changes to the Constitution proposed by the Government, and Revolución Ciudadana, the movement led by former President Rafael Correa, was victorious in the election of authorities in various cities of the country.
