Government of Ecuador accuses opposition of promoting a “coup” by Pandora Papers

The government of Ecuador He accused Correísmo on Saturday of promoting a “coup d’etat” after a congressional commission suggested the removal of President Guillermo Lasso, considering that he breached the law for having investments in tax havens when he ran for president; fact indicated in the “Pandora Papers”.

“The national government recognizes that it is the sectarian position of the group of assembly members of UNES (Union for Hope), determined to weaken Ecuadorian democracy and promote a coup”, said the Ministry of Government (Interior) in a statement.

The Union for Hope (UNES) party is, without being a majority, the main force in Congress with 48 of the 137 seats. Its top leader, the former socialist president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), who lives in Belgium, is considered a fugitive from justice in Ecuador, where he was sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery.

“Who is promoting this destabilization” is “who was convicted of bribery,” “who fled the country to escape from jail,” the statement said, without directly mentioning Correa.

The former president responded by calling the government statement “madness”. “We have a president who is a global shame,” Correa wrote on Twitter.

In another trill he noted: “The world accuses Lasso, and Lasso insults me. That honor! In his desperation, he does not understand that there are 600 journalists from 90 countries who call him CORRUPT ”.

The ministry added that “the government will make use of all legal and constitutional tools to face the coup adventure of Correísmo.”

The Constitutional Guarantees Commission, with the majority vote, approved a non-binding report yesterday in which it recommended to the unicameral National Assembly that it “verify the non-observance” by Lasso of the norms that prohibit candidates and officials from having investments in tax havens.

Faced with this breach, Congress should apply a constitutional article that empowers it to dismiss him “due to a serious political crisis and internal commotion,” according to the commission’s opinion.

The Executive pointed out on Friday that the commission “has disrespected due process and that its action lacks legal validity.”

The Ministry of Government estimated on Saturday that in the resolution of the commission “the political desire to destabilize democratic institutions could be clearly seen without equivocation.” He also criticized the commission, considering that it demonstrated “operational, technical and ethical inability” to analyze the “Pandora Papers.”

According to this journalistic investigation, the president, a former right-wing banker in power since May, controlled 14 offshore companies, most based in Panama, and closed them after Correa – Lasso’s main opponent – approved a law in 2017 that prohibited presidential hopefuls to have companies in tax havens.

Lasso has defended himself, arguing that he had “legitimate investments in other countries”, but that he got rid of them to be a candidate.

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