Ecuadorian Vice President's Son Is in Preventive Detention

In the early hours of Friday, the judiciary issued a preventive detention order against Francisco Barreiro, the son of Ecuadorian Vice President Verónica Abad, a far-right politician whom President Daniel Noboa sent to Israel as a "special ambassador."

RELATED:

Ecuadorian President Gave in to IMF Policy Pressures: CONAIE

The Prosecutor's Office indicated that Judge Maria Fernanda Castro accepted its request in "The Baby Case" (Caso Nene) and ordered preventive detention against Barreiro for being the alleged direct perpetrator of the crime of influence peddling.

Previously, Vice President Abad's son was detained after a raid in the city of Cuenca. A video posted by outlet Moteradio shows him saying that his detention is "politically motivated."

This case arose from a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office according to which those involved in influence peddling offered an advisor to Abad to give him the position of Vicepresidency Communication Coordinator in exchange for paying US$2,000 of his US$3,200 salary.

The text reads, "'Everything is political,' said Francisco Barreiro Abad, the son of Vice President Veronica Abad, when he was detained by the police as part of the Nene Case investigations."

"Later, they reached an agreement for the complainant to keep US$1,500 and hand US$1,700 to Barreiro each month. They would have made him sign a bill of exchange for US$30,600 to guarantee the monthly payment," the newspaper La Hora reported.

"The complainant had problems giving the first month's payment in because he only kept US$900 and asked them to allow him to give the amount accumulated in February. In that month, however, the complainant was fired from the Vice Presidency. Given this, he asked Barreiro to give him the bill of exchange."

"The Prosecutor's Office has photographs of the bill of exchange and audio and video evidence that confirm influence peddling," La Hora added.

On Thursday, the Interior Ministry stated that the Noboa administration is firmly committed to the pursuit of any crime and maintains "zero tolerance for corruption wherever it comes from." So far, the Vice President has not publicly commented on the detention of her son.

On Nov. 23, 2023, Daniel Noboa and Veronica Abad assumed their positions after winning an extraordinary election through which Ecuadorians prematurely replaced President Guillermo Lasso, a banker who governed between 2021-2023.

The political rift between Noboa and his vicepresident began even before winning the elections due to the far-right positions embraced by Abad, who echoes the libertarian speeches of Latin American politicians such as Jair Bolsonaro and Javier Milei.