ECUADOR · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The country Ecuador is an Andean country that has used the US dollar since 2000 and works with Washington against drug trafficking.
- What happened On Tuesday, 13 October, the National Assembly censured and removed David Rosero from the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control.
- The vote 84 legislators voted for removal and four against, and the sanction carries a two-year ban on holding any public office.
- The council The seven-member council selects the heads of control bodies such as the attorney general’s office and the comptroller’s office.
- The charge Legislators found he breached a conflict-of-interest ban through an alleged meeting with a judge seeking the attorney general’s post; he denies it.
- Power Index Ecuador ranks 8th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 38.2 points (October 2026 edition).
- Still open The seat is expected to pass to alternate Andrés Mendoza Paladines, and the contest for Ecuador’s next attorney general is still under way.
Ecuador’s National Assembly on Tuesday, 13 October, censured and removed David Rosero from the council that picks the country’s attorney general and comptroller. The 84 votes ended his term over an alleged private meeting with a judge who was applying to become attorney general.
The fight matters beyond Quito because Ecuador uses the US dollar and has signed several counternarcotics agreements with Washington. Whoever controls the choice of the next attorney general shapes how drug, corruption and money-laundering cases are prosecuted.
What the Assembly Decided
The Assembly’s press office said 84 votes censured and removed David Rosero for breaching Article 45, numeral 2, of the council’s organic law. That rule bars council members from acting in matters where they have a conflict of interest.
The sanction also bars Rosero from public office for two years, and the Assembly will notify the Labour Ministry so the ban is recorded. Ecuador’s dailies El Comercio and Diario Expreso both counted four votes against, while the Revolución Ciudadana bloc of former President Rafael Correa abstained.
Before the vote, the news site Primicias said 77 votes were needed and that the governing bloc and its allies had them. Under the law that governs the legislature, a censure means removal with immediate effect, El Comercio noted.
Who Picks Ecuador’s Top Prosecutor
The Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, known by its Spanish initials CPCCS, has seven members chosen by popular vote. Through public contests it selects the heads of control bodies such as the attorney general’s office, the comptroller’s office and the superintendencies, El Universo reports.
Voters will elect a new council on Sunday, 29 November, and its members take office on 14 May 2027. Diario Expreso reported in April 2025 that the Assembly would swear David Rosero in as an alternate after three members had been removed.
The case was brought by Sergio Peña, a legislator formerly with Revolución Ciudadana, the left-wing movement of former President Rafael Correa. Peña now votes with Acción Democrática Nacional (ADN), the party of President Daniel Noboa, which leads the governing bloc.
ADN holds the majority on the Assembly’s oversight committee, which sent the case to the floor, Primicias reports. Revolución Ciudadana members abstained in that committee, arguing the evidence did not prove any breach.
The Meeting at the Heart of the Case
Peña told the chamber that photographs show Rosero at the home of Inés Romero, a judge then competing to become attorney general. He said expert reports had examined the images, and that Rosero’s own representative, Luis Cueva Ordóñez, sat on the contest’s technical team.
Primicias reports the meeting allegedly took place at 7:30 on the evening of 5 June, in a house in Cumbayá, east of Quito. At that time a citizen selection commission was finishing its scoring of the candidates’ merits, the same outlet reports.
Peña also presented facial-comparison points, vehicle location data and flight records, El Comercio reports. He argued that chain-of-custody rules apply to criminal trials, not to political trials like this one.
Romero is no longer in the contest, having been dropped at the citizen-challenge stage, Primicias reports. In a video shown by Rosero’s defence, she denied meeting him or any other council member, El Comercio reports.
David Rosero Denies Any Meeting
David Rosero denied meeting Romero or any other candidate and said that on 5 June he was on official duty in Guayaquil. He presented flight tickets, reports and institutional records that, he said, show he reached Ibarra, where he lives, at 8:22 that evening.
He called undated photographs insufficient proof of any conflict of interest or favour. He also argued that a reliable facial match needs at least 22 comparison points, El Comercio reports.
Rosero said the trial was really meant to reshape the council before it names the next attorney general. Revolución Ciudadana legislators made the same argument, and he left the chamber after his rebuttal, as the legislature’s rules require.
What It Means for You
For US investors and companies, the attorney general’s office decides which fraud, corruption and drug-money cases reach court. Ecuador has used the US dollar since 2000, so legal certainty there bears directly on dollar contracts and assets.
An archived State Department fact sheet says Washington and Quito have signed several agreements to strengthen counternarcotics and law-enforcement cooperation. A fight over who picks the chief prosecutor therefore reaches into that cooperation with a US partner.
Earlier cases show how much depends on prosecutors, such as the decision not to charge a former energy minister. For travellers and residents nothing changes on the ground, and the wider picture is set out in Ecuador Explained.
What Is Not Known
The Assembly’s statement does not name who takes the vacant seat or when. Diario Expreso and Primicias report that it should pass to Andrés Mendoza Paladines, a Guayaquil broadcaster who is next on the list of alternates.
It is not known whether David Rosero will challenge his removal in court. The Assembly has not said whether it will refer the case to prosecutors, a step El Comercio notes would not be a criminal finding.
During the debate, legislators raised the idea of similar trials against the council’s other members. Whether any such case will be filed is not yet clear.
Until an alternate is sworn in, the council that will choose Ecuador’s next attorney general has six members. The contest for the post is still under way, Primicias reports.
More: Ecuador news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is David Rosero?
David Rosero was a member of Ecuador’s Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control, which selects top control officials. The National Assembly removed him on 13 October and barred him from public office for two years.
What is the CPCCS in Ecuador?
It is a seven-member elected council that picks, through public contests, the heads of bodies such as the attorney general’s and comptroller’s offices. Voters elect a new council on 29 November, and it takes office on 14 May 2027.
Why was David Rosero removed?
Legislators found that he broke a conflict-of-interest ban by meeting a judge who was competing to become attorney general. Rosero denies any meeting and says he was in Guayaquil and Ibarra that day.
Does this affect US investors or visitors?
There is no direct effect on travel or markets, but the fight shapes who will run Ecuador’s chief prosecutor’s office. In a dollarised economy that works with Washington against drug trafficking, that office matters for legal certainty.
Sources: Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador, 13 October 2026; El Comercio, 13 October 2026; Diario Expreso, 13 October 2026; Primicias, 12 October 2026; El Universo, 11 October 2026; Diario Expreso, 14 April 2025; US Department of State (archived fact sheet), archived fact sheet.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief