Rafael Correa says he is the victim of a montage. The former Ecuadorian president (2007-2017) was sentenced on Tuesday 7 April, at first instance, to an eight-year prison sentence for corruption, accompanied by "a deprivation of the right to participate in politics for twenty-five years" . Nineteen others, including a former vice-president, a former minister and former deputies close to Mr. Correa, were also convicted.
When the sentence was announced in the case of "Bribes 2012-2016", Mr. Correa reacted on his Twitter account: "It is what they wanted: to obtain by manipulating justice what they could not obtain in the ballot boxes. " The former president claims to be a victim of political persecution and accuses the magistrates of his country of being in power. Several leftist figures in Latin America have added their voices to his. Former Colombian presidential candidate Gustavo Petro believes that "The sentence against Rafael Correa expresses the decision of the Ecuadorian oligarchy to prevent the return of progressivism to power."
"The most corrupt of all"
If the conviction was confirmed on appeal and cassation before the 2021 elections, Mr. Correa could not be a candidate. The Ecuadorian constitution, reformed by referendum in 2018, does not allow him to run for a third presidential mandate. But it does not prevent him from being a candidate for the Vice-Presidency or the Assembly.
"How do you explain that this court hearing took place when the country is experiencing a dramatic health crisis? ", questions the former head of state. Overwhelmed by the Covid-19 crisis, Ecuador is the country with the highest number of deaths per capita on the continent. Justice has been effectively paralyzed there for days.
But on social networks, anti-corréistes, whether right or left, welcome the court ruling. "Rafael Correa was the most corrupt and the most corrupting of all presidents", considers Martha Roldos, director of the Mil Hojas website, which published the "Green Rice" investigation, on the basis of which the prosecution opened a judicial investigation.
"Masquerade"
Three years after leaving office, Correa continues to divide Ecuadorians who adore or hate him with equal fervor. The first praise its efficiency: Mr. Correa's double mandate has been marked by a policy of major works and a sharp reduction in social inequalities. The second denounce his excessive ego, his authoritarianism and his lack of respect for freedoms. They accuse him of having wasted the oil windfall and indebted the country.
For the judges, "The investigation has demonstrated the existence of a corruption structure supervised by Rafael Correa", bribes having been paid in exchange for public contracts, under cover of financing from the presidential party. Mr. Correa is charged as "That indirect author" of the offense. Prosecutors said the companies involved – including Brazilian public works giant Odebrecht at the heart of a continental scandal – paid more than $ 7 million in total. But these companies have not been prosecuted by Ecuadorian justice. "This is one of the weaknesses of the instruction", admits law professor Rafael Oyarte, while stressing that the documents in the file were overwhelming.
"I'm fine, it's my comrades who worry me", also tweeted Mr. Correa. Married to a Belgian, he has lived in Brussels for three years. The former president was confident: "We will surely win internationally because all of this is just a masquerade. " Before appealing to international bodies, however, Mr. Correa must exhaust the remedies available in his country.
