Attempt to impeach Ecuador's Lasso moves a step forward

The political environment in Ecuador remains heated amid the push to impeach President Guillermo Lasso and suspected terrorist attacks on journalists.

With five votes in favor and two abstentions, the legislative administration council (CAL), the highest administrative body of the national assembly, agreed to proceed with the impeachment process.

The case now goes to the constitutional court, the highest judicial body in the country, which must decide if the process continues.

The request for Lasso’s impeachment was formally presented last week with the signatures of 59 lawmakers from UNES, the political movement of former president Rafael Correa, and the right-wing party PSC, among others.

The request followed an investigation by an opposition-controlled legislative commission that began after an online media outlet published allegations of corruption in state companies, in which Danilo Carrera, Lasso's brother-in-law, was said to be implicated.

If the constitutional court rejects the request, the process will end, but if it rules in favor the case must be analyzed by the assembly's oversight commission, which has 30 days to recommend whether the procedures go ahead.

ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS

On Monday at least five suspect packages were sent to journalists in Quito and Guayaquil, and threats were made to offices of the judiciary and to shopping centers.

According to interior minister Juan Zapata, the journalists received envelopes with explosives in pen drives, which were delivered by a parcel company from a coastal province.

Three of the envelopes were sent to reporters in Guayaquil and two to ones in Quito.

In most cases, the charge was tampered with so it did not have enough energy to detonate. In Guayaquil, the device sent to a journalist from a television channel was 50% activated when he connected the pen drive to his computer.

The national chief of police criminalistics, Xavier Chango, reported that they are investigating whether the explosives are of military origin.

The national prosecutor's office, meanwhile, launched an investigation into suspected terrorism.

In a statement, the presidency’s communications office condemned the attacks and said any attempt to intimidate journalists are reprehensible acts that must be punished with the full rigor of the law.

Photo: CAL session