Ecuador: Lasso denies the existence of a "criminal structure" in his government after raids

Guillermo Lasso does not hide his desire to seek re-election in Ecuador 0:31

(CNN Spanish) --

Upon his return to Ecuador after fulfilling an official agenda in Europe, President Guillermo Lasso rejected on Sunday night, during an interview broadcast by state media, the existence of a corruption plot in his government and warned that those who have incurred in acts at odds with the law must answer before the Justice.

“Here in the Government there is no organized structure, a criminal structure as has been said, to produce acts of corruption.

That is not true.

At most, what exists is an alleged act of corruption by a former government official,” the Ecuadorian president specified.

Last Friday, the Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office reported that various raids were carried out in Quito and Guayaquil at the homes of people who are being investigated for an alleged corruption plot within various state companies.

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The investigation was called by the Prosecutor's Office the "Encuentro Case" and covers the public companies Petroecuador, the National Electricity Corporation, the Ecuadorian Oil Fleet and the Ecuadorian Electric Corporation, according to previous reports from the Prosecutor's Office.

According to the institution, eight simultaneous raids were carried out in Guayaquil and one in Quito at the homes of the people investigated.

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When asked about the name that the Prosecutor's Office has given to this investigation as "Encuentro Case", Lasso replied: "It seems to me a nonsense that clearly reveals the political intention of causing harm to my Government."

Lasso has promoted the slogan "Government of the meeting" since his electoral candidacy and during the time he has been in office since May 2021.

• Government of Ecuador denies that there is a "criminal structure" in state companies after raids in Guayaquil and Quito

President Lasso added that his government is under attack and that there is a fight between "mafia powers" who want to have space in his administration.

“My government is under attack from two different groups,” Lasso insisted, explaining: “On the one hand, the drug-trafficking mafias and organized crime;

and, on the other hand, these mafia groups that have always swarmed around governments and that have not had the chance to penetrate mine because we are not going to allow them”.

On Friday, the Minister of the Interior, Juan Zapata, reported that the Police are complying with legal provisions and orders for surveillance and monitoring of people with the support of the institution's intelligence department.

He added that the case is handled by the Attorney General's Office and that at the moment some data is kept confidential, so he did not agree to give more details.

During the raids carried out early Friday morning in Guayaquil and Quito, "various pieces of evidence were collected such as documents, storage devices, cell phones, computers, jewelry, among other elements that will be appraised and valued during the development of the investigation," reported the Prosecutor's Office on his Twitter account.