Ecuadorian Parliament Suspends Impeachment Trial Against Former Energy Minister Arrobo

President of the National Assembly Viviana Veloz, Dec. 4, 2024. X/ @amartinezecu

December 4, 2024 Hour: 2:30 pm

‘A water crisis was not convenient for the April referendum, so they silenced me,’ she denounced.

On Wednesday, Viviana Veloz, the president of Ecuador’s National Assembly, suspended the political impeachment trial against former Energy Minister Andrea Arrobo, who did not attend the plenary session.

Previously, through a public letter, Arrobo stated that she feared “devastating retaliation” from President Daniel Noboa against her and her family, arguing that such retaliation would occur if she presented evidence proving she was not part of a sabotage effort to cause blackouts in the week leading up to the referendum held in April, as claimed by the government.

“We, too, have faced harassment and persecution. What the former minister is exposing is serious. She informed the country that there are chats between her and President Noboa, in which she warned and alerted about the energy crisis,” said the National Assembly President.

These chats would allegedly also show that Arrobo was instructed not to speak about the possibility of massive blackouts because such an announcement could have harmed the Noboa’s referendum.

Although Veloz did not specify when the impeachment trial might resume, she said the National Assembly would provide assurances to Arrobo so she could “present evidence” that might reveal possible negligence by President Noboa in managing the energy crisis.

“I never hid any information. In fact, I disclosed everything. But a water crisis was not convenient for the April referendum, so they silenced me. That’s why I kept all the evidence, to defend myself in court,” the former minister stated in her letter.

Por los suelos. Un reportaje hecho por el prestigioso medio inglés The Economist pone a Ecuador como el nuevo narco-Estado del mundo. Uno de sus periodistas, Alexander Clapp, hizo un recorrido por las zonas más violentas y constató las condiciones que existen para que reine el… pic.twitter.com/y0xNHBTWEP
— LaHistoria (@lahistoriaec) November 24, 2024

The text reads, “On the ground. A report by the prestigious British media outlet The Economist places Ecuador as the world’s new narco-state. One of its journalists, Alexander Clapp, made a tour of the most violent areas and confirmed the conditions existing for crime to reign.”

Since 2023, Ecuador has experienced periods of electricity rationing caused by its inability to generate enough energy to meet national demand during droughts at its main hydroelectric plants. One of these periods occurred in April 2024, when the Noboa administration was forced to implement blackouts with very little notice. This happened when water levels at the Mazar reservoir reached critical lows.

At the time, the Ecuadorian government justified the blackouts by alleging a sabotage aimed at undermining the outcome of the referendum, through which Noboa sought to legitimize his neoliberal reforms. In her letter, former Energy Minister Arrobo said she personally informed the Ecuadorian president of the imminent need to initiate blackouts. She also claimed that the Noboa administration prevented her from holding a press conference to explain the situation to the nation.

“If the public realizes that I was forbidden to speak and that they even canceled the press conference I had prepared, then my life and that of my family will be over. Defending myself with evidence in the Assembly would mean that the Prosecutor’s Office, which maintains a close and inseparable relationship with the Executive branch, would, in retaliation, accuse me without evidence,” Arrobo warned.

After Arrobo resigned, the Noboa administration pushed for an investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office against her for alleged disruption of public services and treason.