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ECUADOR

The dismissal of Guarderas revealed a coordinated political operation

The former CPCCS advisor requested to be a private prosecutor in the Liga2 case, considering himself a direct victim

Juan Esteban Guarderas, former CPCCS advisor, requested to be admitted as a private accuser in the Liga2 case, a judicial process involving four former officials allegedly linked to correísmo. He asserted that his dismissal was not an institutional act, but part of a "carefully orchestrated political operation".

The complaint targets Augusto Verduga, Eduardo Franco Loor, Yadira Saltos, and Nicole Bonifaz, accused of planning the control of key state institutions. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the maneuver was evidenced through chats and forensic analysis of devices seized during a raid on the CPCCS last January.

Guarderas was dismissed by the National Assembly in December 2024, with votes from the correísta bloc and its allies. His departure facilitated the entry of Eduardo Franco Loor, lawyer of former Vice President Jorge Glas, sentenced for corruption in the Odebrecht case. For Guarderas, this confirmed the political objective of taking control of the Council.

A woman sitting at a table with a microphone in front of her, next to a man in military uniform, with a flag behind them.
Judge Daniella Camacho | La Derecha Diario
As part of the process, the former advisor demands material compensation of $130,400, the amount corresponding to the salary he stopped receiving since his censure. Additionally, he filed a criminal complaint against Verduga and Assembly member Pamela Aguirre for usurpation of functions and illicit association, for their role in the preparation of the report that motivated his departure.

Guarderas keeps that the Liga2 case demonstrates how certain political actors sought to co-opt power spaces through illegitimate mechanisms. He stated that his political trial was rushed, without legal basis, and conditioned by partisan interests aligned with the Citizen Revolution.

Guarderas's testimony and the evidence presented in the Liga2 case reinforce the warnings about the essentialization of public institutions by correísmo. His legal struggle represents a warning about attempts to manipulate the country's democratic institutions.

➡️ Ecuador

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