Military personnel held in boys’ disappearance as bodies are discovered; Abad calls Noboa ‘dictatorial’; National Assembly summons judge in Abad decision

Sixteen Air Force personnel are being held at the Taura Air Force base near Guayaquil pending the conclusion of a National Police investigation into the disappearance of four Guayaquil boys. The detention coincides with the discovery of three partially burned bodies in wooded area near the base.

The 16 are part of a military squad that picked up the boys, ages 11 to 15, during a law enforcement patrol in Guayaquil on December 8. After first denying the boys were detained by the military, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo said the boys were held for several hours but were released near the Taura base. Loffredo claimed the boys were suspects in an alleged robbery near a Guayaquil mall.

A relative of one of the missing Guayaquil boys stands next to poster bearing the pictures and names of all four boys who have not been seen since December 8.

During a court hearing of the case Tuesday morning, prosecutors said they found no evidence that the boys were involved in an attempted robbery, saying the alleged victim decided not to file a crime report.

The father of one the boys said he received a phone call from his son that the four were stripped naked and beaten by the soldiers. Another report from an alleged witness said the four were released, still naked, on a road near Taura. The boys have not been seen or heard from since.

Although military authorities are conducting their own investigation, the legal case is in the hands of a special police unit assigned to kidnapping and disappearances. According to prosecutors, the 16 soldiers face charges of kidnapping that could be upgraded to murder based on result of the investigation.

According to police, the three bodies found near Taura were burned beyond recognition and have been sent to a police forensics lab in Guayaquil for identification. At the scene, the victims’ age or sex could not be determined.

Abad calls Noboa ‘dictatorial’
Newly reinstated Vice President Verónica Abad denounced President Daniel Noboa’s new order assigning her to Turkey, saying it violates the constitution and reveals the president’s “dictatorial tendencies.” The new overseas assignment follows a judge’s Monday decision annulling a 150-day suspension imposed on Abad by the Ministry of Labor and restoring her vice-presidential status.

Earlier in the year, Noboa had named Abad Ambassador to Israel, when personal animosity between the two became evident.

Noboa ordered that Abad assume her new duties as trade liaison in Turkey on December 27, but Abad said she will report within 30 days, as specified under rules of diplomatic postings.

“Exiling an elected official is an insult to all Ecuadorians,” Abad said Tuesday. “This decree is nothing more than the consummation of an announced coup d’état to install a dictatorship on January 5,” Abad said, referring to the date when, by law, Noboa should relinquish his presidential duties to campaign for reelection.

Abad also criticized Noboa’s refusal to allow her into the vice-presidential offices in Quito following Monday’s court ruling. “Why is it that I’m not allowed into my own office? Why are my constitutional rights as an elected official being violated?”

Assembly summons judge in Abad decision
The National Assembly’s Justice Commission has requested the appearance December 26 of Judge Nubia Vera and President of the Judiciary Council Mario Godoy following Vera’s claim that Godoy pressured her to rule against Vice President Verónica Abad. In her Monday decision, Vera ruled in favor of Abad, throwing out a government suspension of Abad’s vice-presidential duties.

According to Vera, Godoy and an advisor provided legal justification for rejecting Abad’s claim. Vera says the instructions were included on a thumb drive which she has in her possession. Vera also claimed Godoy threatened her with disciplinary action if she supported Abad’s claim.

Other Assembly members say they are considering impeachment action against Godoy.