Ecuador Anti-Corruption Checks Thin as Prosecutor Won’t Charge Ex-Energy Minister
POLITICS · ECUADOR
Key Facts
- —The country Ecuador, a dollarised Andean nation under President Daniel Noboa, where courts, prosecutors and an elected citizen council are meant to police public spending.
- —What happened On 28 September the acting prosecutor general declined to charge former energy minister Antonio Gonçalves in the Progen power case, El Comercio and Vistazo reported.
- —The numbers Progen’s two plant contracts totalled US$149.1 million, and it received US$104.3 million in advances for generators that never ran (Vistazo, 28 September). Thirty defendants remain.
- —What it means for you Fraud and contract cases now go to ordinary Quito courts after the specialised Ecuador anti-corruption unit was abolished on 7 September. Expect slower hearings for now.
- —Still open Which judge takes the Progen case, whether the court council revisits its decision, and who wins seven citizen-council seats on 29 November.
Ecuador anti-corruption checks have narrowed within a month. On 28 September the acting prosecutor general declined to charge former energy minister Antonio Gonçalves in the Progen power case.
Three weeks earlier, the council that runs the courts abolished the specialised unit for corruption trials. The same Monday, a leading industry figure resigned after warning of fear among business owners.
What the prosecutor decided
The Progen case examines two emergency power contracts signed during Ecuador’s 2024 electricity crisis. They totalled US$149.1 million: US$99.4 million for the Salitral plant and US$49.7 million for Quevedo, El Comercio reported.
Progen, a US company, received US$104.3 million in advances, according to the prosecution’s case as reported by Vistazo. The generators were due to run from November 2024 but never entered service.
Prosecutors found no causal link between Gonçalves, minister from 3 July to 9 October 2024, and the alleged embezzlement. They placed direct responsibility on managers of CELEC, the state power company.
Gonçalves was the only defendant entitled to trial before the National Court, Ecuador’s highest ordinary court. The case now goes to an ordinary first-instance judge, with 30 defendants instead of 31.
The Ecuador anti-corruption court unit that no longer exists
On 7 September the Judicature Council, which administers Ecuador’s courts, approved Resolution 187-2026. It abolished the specialised court, trial tribunal and appeals chamber for corruption and organised crime, set up about four years ago, teleSUR reported.
Their cases now go to ordinary criminal courts in Quito. The council cited workload analysis, and the resolution spreads the cases across more than 50 judges.
La República reported that high-profile cases such as Goleada and La Reina stalled while judges sorted out jurisdiction. It counted more than 480 complex cases in limbo.
The newspaper Extra urged the council on 28 September to review its decision. Moving specialists, it wrote, scatters “years of experience and technical knowledge” of complex crimes.
Council president Mercedes Caicedo did not attend a 17 September hearing of the Assembly’s constitutional guarantees committee. She cited a meeting on the contest for National Court judges.
A new allegation and a warning from industry
On 28 September, José Julio Neira, the government’s secretary of public administration, presented what he calls the Nudos (Knots) case. He alleges a network diverted funds from a US$15.4 million CELEC transformer contract.
Neira linked the Autotrafo EC 2023 consortium to Karla Saud, a defendant in the Progen case, and questioned a US$2.6 million transfer. CELEC had already terminated the contract; his claims are allegations, not charges.
The same day, María Paz Jervis resigned as executive president of the Chamber of Industries and Production. El Mercurio noted she left four days after a speech at the chamber’s 90th anniversary.
She said she had rarely seen business owners with “so much fear” and criticised silence over pressure on journalists. The chamber accepted her resignation and stressed that it remains an independent association.
The stabilisers and the November vote
Not every Ecuador anti-corruption signal points down. The Progen trial track continues against 30 defendants, and Assembly members have demanded an explanation of the court reform.
On 29 November voters elect seven members of the CPCCS, the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control, for 2027 to 2031. That council runs the selection of the attorney general and comptroller, among other posts.
El Comercio lists 65 approved candidates: 26 women, 38 men and one on a separate list representing Indigenous, Afro-Ecuadorian and Montubio peoples and Ecuadorians abroad.
What Is Not Yet Known
It is not yet known which judge will take the Progen case or when the pre-trial hearing will be held. It is also unclear whether prosecutors will open a case on Neira’s Nudos claims.
Whether the Judicature Council will revise Resolution 187-2026 remains open. No public statement has tied Jervis’s departure directly to her speech.
Background: Ecuador Explained: The Country, the Security Crisis, the Economy and What to Watch · Ninth Failed Power Tender Pushes Ecuador Toward October Blackout Risk.
Sources: El Comercio and Vistazo (Progen, 28–29 Sep 2026); teleSUR, La República, Extra and KCH Comunicación (court unit); El Universo and El Diario (Nudos); El Mercurio and La República (Jervis); El Comercio (CPCCS, 29 Sep 2026).
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