00:00Former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez of the Citizens Revolution Movement was arrested on Thursday in the province of Manaví in
00:09Ecuador.
00:10Preliminary reports in the local press indicate that the 48-year-old attorney was arrested by agents from an investigative
00:17unit based in Quito.
00:19The news was confirmed on social media platform X by former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa, who stated they arrested Luisa
00:28Gonzalez.
00:29Enough is enough. People have showed their support for Correa against the imprisonment of the former candidate.
00:36Meanwhile, the Ecuadorian prosecutor's office announced that together with the police, they executed arrest warrants early this morning in Pichincha
00:45and Manaví
00:45to file charges against three individuals under investigation for their alleged involvement in monolundering.
00:52Let's recall that this is not the first time that Luisa Gonzalez has been persecuted by the Novo administration.
01:06An Ecuador's opposition movement, Revolución Ciudadana, has denounced the political persecution and arrest of former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez,
01:15Speaking at a press conference in Quito, movement leader Gabriela Riva de Neira condemned the early morning police detention of
01:22Luisa Gonzalez in Manaví,
01:24characterizing the law enforcement operation as a political kidnapping orchestrated by Daniel Novo's administration.
01:31Leadership highlighted that authorities have withheld Gonzalez's location and denied access to legal counsel regarding expedited money laundering allegations,
01:42esteeming from the 2023 campaign. Opposition lawmakers called for immediate popular mobilizations
01:47and announced international legal filings to challenge the judicial offensive executed ahead of the upcoming electoral contests.
02:05And former presidential candidate Luisa Gonzalez precisely called Novo's government a dictatorship that is driving the country toward economic disaster
02:13and prioritizing political persecution over the real social problems facing the Ecuadorian people.
02:19In a statement, the political leader said,
02:22We have reached an unsustainable situation.
02:24Novo's dictatorship has not only driven our beloved country into economic disaster with rampant violence and corruption,
02:32but attacks on civil liberties and political persecution have also become a constant reality.
02:37Political prisoners under the dictatorship are being mistreated and tortured.
02:42She continued,
02:43Today it is my turn to be arrested on an absurd charge.
02:47I will respond with the dignity of Ecuadorians who have done nothing wrong
02:51and are committed to achieving Ecuador's freedom and a better future for the country.
02:56The statement concludes by saying,
02:58To my fellow members of the citizen revolution movement and all progressive forces,
03:04this is the time for unity to achieve freedom and democracy in our country.
03:08Sooner rather than later,
03:10we will achieve the long-awaited democracy.
