Court denies government request to delay Yasuní closure; Judge who released hitmen and Jorge Glas sentenced; ‘Please change Correa’s wifi password’

The Constitutional Court has denied a request by national oil company Petroecuador to extend the deadline for the closure of the ITT oil fields in the Yasuní National Park. Petroecuador had requested that the shutdown of oil production, mandated last year in a public referendum, be delayed from one to three years.

The court ruled that its August 20, 2023 decision, which required a “progressive and orderly secession” of all oil production activities within a year still stands. In its ruling, the judges said the “will of the people cannot be ignored or delayed and is non-negotiable.”

Based on the original ruling, operations at the ITT site must end February 14, 2025. The court excluded weekends and holidays from its 365-day closure schedule.

Petroecuador workers operate an oil well in the Ishpingo field in Yasuní National Park.

In its petition to extend the schedule, Petroecuador attorney Wilmer Gómez claimed that dismantling operations at the Yasuní production sites cannot be accomplished within a year. “The process is complicated and time-consuming,” he said. “We must lay off personnel, bring in machinery to remove the infrastructure, and this takes time. In other countries, this type of operation is given no less than three to five years to accomplish,” adds Gómez.

Several environmental groups that submitted briefs in the hearing claimed the government is delaying the closure of Yasuní oil fields so it can continue to pump oil. “It is obvious what they are doing, and it cannot be allowed based on the result of the election,” said Cuenca environmental attorney Jorge Rodriguez. “We can see the tactic in the fact that Petroecuador waited almost a year to respond to the court’s original order.”

Judge who released hitmen and former VP Glas sentenced
The judge who released two drug gang hitmen and former vice president Jorge Glas from prison, Emerson Curipallo, was himself sentenced to 40 months in prison on Monday. Curipallo, alias ‘El Gran Gitano’, admitted accepting bribes of at least $200,000 in exchange for granting early release to eight convicts.

According to the charges against him, Curipallo worked with drug trafficker Leandro Norero, alias ‘El Patrón’, who was at the center of the Metastasis prison scandal.

In addition to his prison sentence, Curipallo was ordered to pay fines of $5,520 and $11,040 and return the $200,000 he received in bribes.

‘Please change Correa’s wifi password’
“Will someone please change Rafael Correa’s wifi password,” was National Assembly President Henry Kronfle’s response to the former president’s latest social media posts. “The man is making a fool of himself,” Kronfle added, referring to Correa.

Kronfle’s comments followed a Correa post that included leaked medical information about the pregnancy of Attorney General Diana Salazar. In his post, Correa claimed the report on the pregnancy showed Salazar was healthy and “fully capable” of facing an impeachment trial in the National Assembly supported by his Citizens Revolution party.

Kronfle said Monday that the information Correa released about Salazar, some of it “incorrect,” was leaked by unknown persons, although prosecutors are investigating RC Assemblywoman Gissela Garzón for the leak. “I don’t believe Garzón is the guilty party since she has pledged to protect private information, but an investigation is underway,” Kronfle said.

According to Kronfle, the continuing stream of Correa’s social media posts, which the Assembly president likened to a “bad case of diarrhea,” show the former president to be out of touch. “Most of us don’t pay attention to them anymore but when his messages include private and privileged information, it becomes a legal matter,” Kronfle said.

Guayaquil mayor implicated in fuel scam
The Attorney General’s office carried out seven raids in Guayaquil and Milagro Tuesday in an investigation of alleged illegal storage, transport, packaging, and distribution of diesel fuel and natural gas.

The raids come two weeks after the AG filed a complaint against Guayaquil Mayor Aquiles Álvarez and his brothers for the illegal marketing of fuels. Álvarez, his brothers and five others are owners of the energy companies under investigation.

Álvarez acknowledged on his X account that his company and those of his brothers have been raided and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.