Ecuador: Plenary Assembly supports trial of President Lasso

FILE – Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 18, 2023. Lasso will undergo surgery after a fall that fractured his left fibula, according to a statement from the Press Secretariat of the Presidency of February 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)

QUITO (AP) — The plenary session of Ecuador’s National Assembly decided on Saturday with a majority of votes to support a report by a legislative commission that recommends impeachment and removal of President Guillermo Lasso, who is accused of alleged crimes against the security of the State, among others.

The resolution was adopted with the vote of 104 legislators in favor of the trial, 18 against and three abstentions, out of 125 present, of the total of 137 assembly members that make up that body.

This decision does not imply an immediate process against Lasso, but the process continues towards a new instance, the Legislative Administration Council, where if it is approved it must be sent to the Constitutional Court, which will finally decide if it meets the formal requirements to prosecute Lasso. 67 year old ruler.

Last week a legislative commission, mostly from the opposition, presented a report on an alleged case of corruption and alleged links of those close to power with criminal groups and recommended that President Lasso be subjected to a political trial of censorship and dismissal, in addition of omission in crimes against public administration.

For almost three weeks, this commission analyzed information about an alleged corruption case called “El Gran Padrino” that began as a police investigation of drug traffickers and led to possible links between Danilo Carrera, the president’s brother-in-law, and former official Hernán Luque with those groups. .

If the request of the legislators is admitted in all instances, it must return to the Legislature, in two or three weeks, to formally start the trial, which could take a month. For removal, at least 92 legislators must vote in favor of a total of 137.

The Minister of Government, Henry Cucalón, had said that the content of the report lacks support because, as he affirms, “there is not a single piece of evidence that is not half-baked conjectures.” He has also pointed out that the legislative opposition is playing Russian roulette to see if any cause is effective against the president.

The case was made public on the digital portal La Posta, which revealed a police investigation between June 2022 and January 2023, when it was archived on the recommendation of the court and the Prosecutor’s Office due to the lack of compelling elements.

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