United States: new sanctions against former high-ranking Ecuadorian officials for corruption

The United States has banned seven more former high-ranking officials from Ecuadorian institutions from entering the country, bringing the total number of people affected by the measure to 14. Also included in the list are former presidents Rafael Correa and Abdalá Bucaram and former vice president Jorge Glas, who have already been sanctioned by Washington over corruption charges.

The seven former representatives, all convicted of organized crime in the Metástasis case, are the former director of the penitentiary system Pablo Ramírez Erazo, the former president of the Council of the Judiciary Wilman Terán Carrillo, the former judges Ronaldo Guerrero Cruz, Johann Marfetán Medina and Fabiola Gallardo Ramia, the former public relations officer Mayra Salazar Merchán and the former deputy Pablo Muentes Alarcón.

According to the State Department, they accepted bribes from gangs linked to narco-terrorist organizations and interfered in judicial, electoral and public proceedings to favor Los Lobos and Los Choneros, linked to the Mexican Jalisco Nueva Generación and Sinaloa cartels. The measure extends to direct family members and may require the US Treasury to freeze assets and financial transactions in the United States.