Ecuador: Congress Resumes Trial Against Former President Lasso

On Wednesday afternoon, the Ecuadorian Congress will resume the impeachment trial against the former president Guillermo Lasso (2021-2023).

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This political process was suspended after he dissolved the Parliament and called for early elections to evade sanctions.

Previously, the impeachment trial received the admissibility ruling from the Constitutional Court for the embezzlement charge, as stated by Henry Kronfle, the Congress president. 

The events leading up to the impeachment process trace back to May 16 when Lasso proclaimed his "undeniable innocence" in a corruption case involving his brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera, a businessman facing accusations of ties to the Albanian mafia.

However, the Constitutional Court excluded this case from the charges, allowing the Congress to initiate the Lasso trial on allegations of embezzlement related to a series of contracts for crude oil transportation with the international company Amazonas Tanker.

After the early elections, in which Daniel Noboa was elected as the Ecuadorian president, a new Congress was formed with the authority to censure the former president Lasso and suspend his political rights.

On November 17, exactly six months after the call for early elections, the Ecuadorian Congress resumed sessions with a power composition similar to the previous one.

Currently, the progressive Citizen Revolution party and the right-wing Christian Social party hold the majority of seats.