Leaked Messages Suggest Collaboration Between US, Ecuador’s Top Prosecutor as She Targeted Opponents, Broke the Law

August 29, 2024

Contact:Dan Beeton, 202-293-5380 x104Mail_Outline

Washington, DC - Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil report that they have reviewed more than 1,500 leaked text messages that appear to be between Ecuadorian attorney general Diana Salazar, hailed by the US government as an anti-corruption champion, and former member of Ecuador's National Assembly Ronny Aleaga. The messages contain numerous bombshell allegations, including claims apparently made by Salazar that slain 2023 presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio had been a US government informant. They and other recently leaked messages also suggest that Salazar has used her position to politically target members of the Ecuadorian left, and appears to have sometimes done so with support from officials in the US embassy in Quito.

"These messages appear to further confirm that 'lawfare' ― politicizing judicial systems to target opponents ― has been conducted in a blatant and aggressive manner in Ecuador that calls to mind the same sort of judicial persecution that had put Brazil's now-president Lula da Silva in jail. This kept Lula ― who left office as one of the most popular presidents in the world and was widely expected to win reelection ― off the ballot in Brazil's 2018 elections, before he was subsequently exonerated," CEPR Director of International Policy Alex Main said.

The messages mostly span March 2023 to March of this year, and were exchanged on an anonymous, private messaging platform called "Confide." Aleaga, who leaked the messages to the US and Brazilian outlets, stated that he recorded and saved the messages (using a second mobile phone), and had them reviewed and certified by a digital forensics company. Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil say they have reviewed the forensic report.

The messages appear to show Salazar divulging her own exceedingly unlawful behavior. In a clear case of politicization of justice, "Seño," who Aleaga says is Salazar, admits to having delayed a corruption investigation against former president Guillermo Lasso and his brother-in-law and close business associate, Danilo Carrera, because they thought the investigation would help the left-of-center Movement of the Citizens' Revolution, of former president Rafael Correa, in the 2023 snap elections.

"Seño" also made several claims regarding US involvement and political intervention in Ecuador. They boasted of their close relationship and collaboration with the US embassy and revealed that the embassy was worried that the "correistas" (supporters of former president Correa) might win in the 2023 elections, strongly implying that her actions were part of a broader strategy to stop the Left from winning in Ecuador. "They [the US] want RC's head," "Seño" told Aleaga.

Following the Ecuadorian government's invitation to the FBI to investigate the assassination of Villavicencio in August 2023, "Seño" claimed that Villavicencio had been a US government informant. "Seño" also claimed that several of the suspects in his murder, who were killed while in Ecuadorian government custody, were to have been sent to New York had they not been murdered. Verónica Sarauz, the slain candidate's widow, recently appeared to confirm this, saying she had knowledge that the suspects were to be taken out of the country.

Other messages appear to show Salazar complaining that the FBI, who had been given access to Villavicencio's phone, had transferred the phone's contents to her office in a data dump, but that she suspected the FBI had erased information, which she considered to be "procedural fraud."

In their exchanges, "Seño" unlawfully shares highly sensitive and confidential information about ongoing criminal investigations in Ecuador. The messages also suggest that Salazar used her privileged access to sensitive information, and the power of her office, to intimidate political actors or to warn them to flee imminent arrest or prosecution. In the case of Aleaga - with whom she had a "'secretive' relationship," according to Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil - the messages reveal that she warned him that his arrest was imminent, and told him to flee the country to avoid it.

In their investigation, Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil describe the messages as part of a pattern of Salazar's abuse of her authority. As such, they examine another scandal that recently emerged concerning the testimony of a former Ecuadorian judge, Wilman Terán, whom Salazar ordered be arrested in December in what appeared to be a politically motivated prosecutorial decision. In recent months, Terán has claimed that Salazar intimidated him into ruling against Correa's 2020 appeal. In a highly politicized and expeditious court case, Correa - who has lived in Belgium since 2017 - was found guilty of exerting "psychic influence" on his collaborators to accept bribes. Terán also accused Salazar of hiding evidence from him. As in the case of Lula in 2018, this sentence prevented Correa from being a candidate in 2021.

Terán also submitted his exchanges with Salazar for forensic examination, the results of which have been made public. In these messages, the attorney general displayed similar behavior as in the communications with Aleaga, sharing confidential information and warning of imminent prosecution. In a recent and blatant display of overreach that underscores her immense power, Salazar ordered raids on the offices and homes of two National Court of Justice judges for favoring Terán. These judges had ruled that Terán should be transferred to a different prison and be given greater access to his legal team after enduring "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment."

These shocking revelations about Salazar's unlawful conduct, politicization of justice, and numerous ethical violations, echo similar exposés, reported in 2019 by The Intercept Brasil, on the highly politicized trial against former president Lula. These disclosures led the Brazilian Supreme Court to rule that Judge Sergio Moro had been biased in his treatment of Lula. Subsequent investigativereports published by Brazilian investigative outlet Agência Pública revealed that US Department of Justice and FBI officials were deeply involved in the Lava Jato judicial operation that culminated in Lula's jailing. US Members of Congress have twice requested that the US Attorney General share further information regarding the US role in Lava Jato, but have yet to receive a substantive response.

New Revelations Raise Serious Questions about Ongoing US Support for Salazar

These latest revelations raise serious questions about the United States' potential involvement in politicized judicial processes in Ecuador and its ongoing support for Attorney General Diana Salazar, who is widely regarded as a US government protégé. In 2021, the State Department granted Salazar its annual anti-corruption award, lauding "her courageous actions" and praising her as "a role model to judges, lawyers, and prosecutors throughout South America." In 2024, Salazar was one of the winners of the US government-funded Wilson Center's Award for Public Service "for her commitment to justice in Latin America." The same year, Samantha Power, the US Agency for International Development administrator, eulogized Diana Salazar in TIME, lavishing praise on the Ecuadorian attorney general, who is "now spearheading the effort to prevent violent and well-connected drug traffickers from ruining her beloved country," and "has earned the respect and support of a population desperate for calm and safety."

During her time in office, Salazar has frequently received US authorities, such as General Laura Richardson, the commander of the US Southern Command, and special advisor to President Biden Christopher Dodd, who reportedly told Salazar "you are not alone in this fight." While in Washington, Salazar visited Attorney General Merrick Garland, who expressed support for the "continued cooperation and partnership with @FiscaliaEcuador in combating transnational organized crime and corruption."

In Ecuador, Salazar has enjoyed the unflinching support of the US embassy, with regular public meetings and photo opportunities granting her significant political cover. When Salazar faced accusations of having plagiarized large chunks of her graduation thesis, US Ambassador Fitzpatrick responded to the accusations by posing, along with other diplomats, for a photo op alongside Salazar, and stating, "We reiterate our rejection of any violence or threat against the institutions and their representatives, and our attachment to respect for state institutions and the rule of law."

This conspicuous endorsement from successive US administrations and the US foreign policy establishment has given Salazar an aura of untouchability. But in recent months, there has been mounting criticism against Salazar for the politicization of her office. As a result, Salazar now faces impeachment proceedings in the National Assembly, where she stands accused of delaying prosecution in several high-profile criminal investigations, including the "León de Troya," "Encuentro," and "INA Papers" cases, which concern accusations of corruption against former presidents Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, and, in Lasso's case, accusations of covering up his brother-in-law's links with narcotics trafficking.

"Salazar faces impeachment proceedings and multiple accusations of ethics violations, but this latest news makes it clear that she is a political actor, and may have broken the law in order to achieve political aims," Main said. "The time has come for Washington's unwavering support for Salazar to cease, and for this political persecution in Ecuador to come to an end."

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