Attorney General Salazar says she was target of Villavicencio’s killers and of ongoing racist attacks

Attorney General Diana Salazar said Sunday that the gunmen hired to kill presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio also planned to kill her. She also suggested that verbal attacks on her by some members of the National Assembly and others are “racist and sexist.”

Attorney General Diana Salazar

In radio interviews and a video posted on YouTube Sunday, Salazar claimed there is “indisputable evidence” that she was also included in the “hit” ordered on Villavicencio. “My life has been changed entirely by that and other threats against me and my family,” she said. “Because of the precautions I am forced to take, I live in a situation similar to house arrest. Because I must always be protected by security agents, I am not able to live the life of ordinary people.”

She added that she continues to receive death threats by social media and phone.

Salazar also responded to the racial and sexual comments made on social media and by her opponents in the National Assembly. “I don’t usually refer to my condition as a black woman, but it has become an issue for some people,” she said. “I have been called inferior and out of place because of my race and sex, which shows that many in this country continue to believe in the old stereotypes.”

Although she says she does not fear an impeachment trial promoted by Correista National Assembly members, she warns that it would set a “bad precedent” for future attorneys general. “As we have seen in recent month, when politics inserts itself into the legal system, it is very hard to maintain order in a society.”

No date has been set for an impeachment trial but Assembly President Henry Kronfle has called the effort a “waste of time” since there is not sufficient support for a conviction. “Most of us believe she has done an excellent job and want her to continue enforcing the law,” he said.

Salazar claims she carries out her job without consideration of personalities or politics. “My job is to prosecute crimes, not people or ideologies,” she said.

Although several Assembly members have suggested extending Salazar’s appointment, she says she looks forward to leaving the job in April 2025. “By then, I will have filled this role for six years and it has taken a toll on me. I will be eager to return to private life and devote my energy to my family.”