IDs of bodies could take weeks; Despite presidential threat, Abad takes a vacation; Rainfall restores hydro plants; Gov’t reports 42 Covid deaths in 2024

The Attorney General’s office says no positive identification has been made of bodies found north of Guayaquil, near the Taura Air Force base. In a statement, prosecutors said reports that two of the bodies have been identified as those of the Guayaquil boys missing since December 8 were “premature and incorrect.”

The statement urged the media to “handle information responsibly,” and not be influence by social media posts.

Above-average rainfall in most of the country, including Cuenca, is restoring full operation of hydroelectric generation.

The parents of the four boys have been told it could take as long as 30 days to identify the three bodies recovered from a remote area near the Air Force base. The boys were picked up by a military patrol near a Guayaquil mall on December 8 and taken to the Air Force base, according to prosecutors.

Police say the recovered bodies were burned and in badly decomposed condition when they were discovered last week. The parents have provided DNA samples to assist in the identification.

Sixteen Air Force personnel who were part of the patrol that detained the boys remain in a military jail pending the results of the police investigation.

Vice President Abad takes vacation
In a letter to President Daniel Noboa, Vice President Verónica Abad said she will take vacation time until January 3, 2025. She also asked Noboa to “cease all violent and intimidating actions” aimed at her personally and professionally.

Abad, whose status of vice president was restored by a court decision last week, said she would not report to new duties as economic liaison to Turkey on December 27, as ordered by Noboa, citing rules of diplomatic postings that allow 30 days for assignees to assume new positions.

In her letter, Abad said she needed time to restore her health following recent events, including last week’s court proceedings. “As a result of the acts of harassment and persecution, political and personal, that you and your cabinet have exercised against me, my health has been seriously affected, so I will take advantage of these vacation days to which I am entitled to recover physically and psychologically.”

Last week, Government Minister José de la Gasca warned Abad there could be “serious and extreme ramifications” if she did not report to Ankara by midnight December 27. “The new assignment is the result of a presidential order and cannot be ignored,” he said.

Continuing rain powers hydroelectric plants
In a Sunday post on its X account, the Energy Ministry reported that days of rainfall have restored full operation to most of the country’s hydroelectric facilities. “The continuous rainfall on the eastern flank of the Andes and in the inter-Andean valley is refilling reservoirs and increasing the flow of rivers near our power generation facilities,” the statement said. “This makes us confident in our decision to end power suspensions throughout the country.”

Late Sunday, the Mazar reservoir on the Azuay and Cañar province border stood at 2,124 meters above sea level, a recovery of 16 meters (52 feet) since mid-November. The ministry said the reservoir level will “continue to rise rapidly in coming days” and is at a level that allows full operation as needed.

The ministry also said the rivers supplying the Coca Coda Sinclair hydro plant are “running strongly,” allowing “optimal operation of the turbines.”

Health Ministry reports 42 Covid deaths in 2024
Despite a large increase in confirmed cases of Covid-19 in 2024, the Ministry of Health says only 42 deaths have been reported. The 13,828 cases compare to 569 in 2023 and 652 in 2022. According to the ministry, almost 70% of the cases and 33 of the deaths were in Pichincha and Guayas Provinces.

The ministry attributes the rise in cases to the “reduction of immunological memory” from the Covid vaccines administered in 2020 and 2021. “We continue to urge those in vulnerable groups to take the updated vaccines,” the ministry said in a statement. “We should not forget that because of our high rate of vaccination in 2020 and 2021, Ecuador had the lowest rate of Covid-19 deaths among the Andean nations.”

The ministry said newer strains of Covid pose a lower health risk than those in the early stages of the pandemic but said they still pose a threat to those with compromised health conditions.