OMM Newsroom
Ecuadorian police arrested former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez in Manabi province on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported, citing the Primicias news outlet and the National Police’s Zone 4 command.
The operation took place in the canton of Chone. The Attorney General’s Office said authorities conducted operations in Manabi and Pichincha provinces, executing detention orders against three people being investigated for alleged money laundering.
The investigation also concerns possible irregularities in political campaign financing.
The opposition Citizens’ Revolution party and Gonzalez’s legal team denounced her detention as arbitrary and unconstitutional. Party leader Gabriela Rivadeneira called the arrest a “kidnapping” and demanded Gonzalez’s immediate release.
Citizens’ Revolution said authorities had not disclosed where Gonzalez was being held or allowed her lawyers access to her. The party described the situation as a violation of due process and fundamental human rights.
It called on authorities to disclose her whereabouts immediately and guarantee access for her defence lawyers and human rights observers. The party said it had also requested urgent precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
Citizens’ Revolution said it had notified international organizations about what it described as a breach of democratic guarantees in Ecuador. It accused authorities of political persecution, saying the case involved a $6,100 discrepancy in campaign accounts.
Gonzalez represented Citizens’ Revolution in the 2023 presidential election, losing the runoff to President Daniel Noboa. Former President Rafael Correa, the party’s founder and an ally of Gonzalez, also condemned her arrest in a post on “X”.
Authorities had not publicly detailed all the allegations against Gonzalez or confirmed when formal charges would be presented at the time of reporting.
