• Ecuador Correa forces the impeachment process of Lasso

The impeachment process against President

Guillermo Lasso

continued this Sunday in Quito, promoted by the 47 deputies of the Union of Hope (UNES), the parliamentary bloc of former president

Rafael Correa.

During the first session it became clear that despite being a majority, they do not have enough seats to fulfill their objective.

They would lack at least 15 deputies to reach 2/3 of the chamber (92), as required by the Constitution.

In a climate of high tension,

Juan Fernando Flores,

coordinator of the ruling National Accord Bank (BAN), directly accused Correa, a fugitive from justice who fled to Belgium, of "buying consciences, extorting money and even threatening to kidnap assembly members or their families.

This is how Rafael Correa's mafia is operating."

Another assemblyman, the renowned independent

Fernando Villavicencio,

also publicly aired that at least five legislators were tempted with financial bribes to change their vote and support the impeachment.

During his intervention in the plenary session, deputy Patricio Cervantes revealed that there is pressure "to twist the will" of the assembly members.

Another parliamentarian, the indigenous

Rafael Lucero

, confessed, for his part, that a group of people went to his family home in Cotopaxi to

shout and pressure him to vote against Lasso.

In an audio published by the digital media La Posta, an indigenous leader ordered his followers "to be behind the house of the assembly members, raiding or also to be aware of them. If they do not vote in favor of the dismissal of this criminal government and murderer, we will immediately grab them by the ears and bring them to the Arbolito (a park in the capital that is the epicenter of indigenous mobilizations) wherever they are".

The threats seem directed at the twenty assembly members of

Pachakutik

, the political arm of the indigenous movement, divided into three different blocks.

Despite the fact that the official group had announced that they would not vote against Lasso, they have finally changed their minds, with the exception of

Guadalupe Llori,

a former legislative president who was dismissed by her political enemies.

The response from Correa, direct adviser to

Nicolás Maduro

and star of

Vladimir Putin's television,

was immediate: "That's called projective psychology. Country-selling clowns!"

The leader of the citizen revolution has shown his discomfort because his initiative to remove Lasso does not have a sufficient majority, at least for now.

If Lasso comes out of this process unscathed, he could no longer repeat himself in the three years that remain in his presidency.

"This noble and rebellious people do not deserve what is happening today in Ecuador. The double standards of incapable and shameless politicians are destroying the country," Correa bellowed on his social networks, a way of showing his disappointment at not being able to convince deputies to Democratic Left (ID) and the Christian Social Party (PSC) to follow the path marked out from Belgium.

The serious crisis in Ecuador has thus been transferred to the National Assembly, which will decide on the political fate of Lasso after

14 days of national strike have already been experienced,

which continues despite the 48-hour truce.

The double session on Saturday, which lasted until dawn with the intervention of 31 assembly members, and on Sunday have been held virtually, given the impossibility for all legislators to travel from their provinces and even access the Assembly , located at ground zero of the protests.

Another 40 congressmen have requested the right to speak in a process that can take up to 72 hours.

The repeal of the state of emergency decree, one of the premises of the indigenous leaders to sit down at the dialogue table, had a positive impact on both parties, despite the fact that roads are still blocked in the mountain area.

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