Noboa takes another leave to campaign; AG’s office raids Finance Ministry offices; Luisa González won’t say if Maduro is legitimate; Construction up in Cuenca

For the third time since the election campaign began January 5, President Daniel Noboa is handing over presidential duties to Cynthia Gellibert. In his announcement, Noboa said he plans to “engage in campaign activities” from 6 a.m. Friday until 6 a.m. Monday.

Noboa’s leave comes while the constitutional court is considering his earlier decision to hand over official duties to Gellibert, and not to the elected vice president, Veronica Abad. Last week, the court upheld a lower court ruling voiding Abad’s 150-day suspension by the labor ministry and recognizing her as vice president.

President Daniel Noboa returns to the campaign trail this weekend, again turning over his official duties to Cynthia Gellibert.

In Thursday’s announcement, Noboa said the assignment of Gellibert as vice president will remain in force until Abad assumes her assigned duties in Turkey.

Noboa appointed Gellibert vice president by decree on January 6, citing Abad’s absence from her position as special economic advisor in Ankara, Turkey.

Luisa González won’t say if Maduro was democratically elected
Despite complaints by former president Rafael Correa, Citizens Revolution presidential candidate Luisa González is refusing to say whether Nicolás Maduro is president or dictator of Venezuela. In two interviews, González refused to give her opinion on the question.

“We would have to consult Venezuelans with that question,” she said Wednesday in a CNN interview when asked about the legitimacy of the election. “I prefer to focus on what is happening in Ecuador,” González said. When Mexican journalist Fernando del Rincón pressed her, saying almost all Latin American countries consider Maduro either a “dictator or illegitimately elected,” she insisted she intended to talk about Ecuador, not Venezuela.

In an interview last week on a Spanish radio network, González also refused to commit herself on Maduro’s status. “Yes, there were some issues in that election, but I prefer to discuss the issues in my own country, Ecuador.” When the interviewer cited a poll showing 75% of Ecuadorians believed Maduro had won by fraud, González said she “respected the opinion of all Ecuadorians.”

After both interviews, Correa urged González to recognize Maduro as “Venezuela’s democratically elected” president. “Come on Luisa, let’s admit the truth, that he won the election,” Correa posted on social media following the Spanish interview.

In an interview on the El Cabezazo TV program January 17, Correa asked: Why aren’t we going to recognize that election? Is it just because some gringos don’t like that he [Maduro] won?” In the interview, notable for the fact that he fell off his chair, Correa claimed Maduro was a “friend of Ecuador in the past and will be again in the future.”

The Maduro question is not the first time Correa and González have not shared the same position during the campaign. Twice in the last two weeks, Correa has criticized González’s campaign strategy but, on both occasions, he deleted his message on X a few minutes after posting.

Attorney General raids Finance Ministry
Officials from the Attorney General’s office and the National Police carried out raids early Thursday in the offices of the Finance Ministry in Quito. Prosecutors claim that “numerous cases of illegal enrichment and other corrupt practices by ministry personnel” are being investigated.

Finance Minister Juan Carlos Vega was notified of the raids hours before they began and said he had no information to share about the case. It is not clear whether Vega is under investigation.

Among the items collected in the raids are cash, computers, cell phones and documents. In addition to the raids on ministry offices, others were executed on the homes of several ministry officials.

Cuenca construction is on the increase
Following a four-year decline in new construction in Cuenca, the city is experiencing a strong recovery in both on-site work and applications for new projects. According to Henry Astudillo, president of the Chamber of Construction, Cuenca is the only city in Ecuador showing improvement in a generally depressed market.

Astudillo credited new construction investment to Ecuadorians living overseas, in Europe and the U.S. “Because of unsettled times in countries where migrants have relocated, they now see an advantage in investing in Ecuador,” Astudillo said. “Some of those we talk to say they plan to come home in the near future.”