ECUADOR · POLITICS
Key Facts
- —The country Ecuador, an Andean country on the Pacific coast, uses the US dollar as its currency and is led by President Daniel Noboa.
- —Why it matters A judge has jailed the main opposition figure before trial, five weeks before local elections, in a case where every sum alleged is in US dollars.
- —Why now The order came on Friday 23 October 2026, a day after police detained Luisa González at her home in Manabí province.
- —What happened Judge Harry Navarrete ordered pretrial detention for González and two co-defendants in a money laundering case called Laberinto.
- —The numbers Prosecutors allege about US$500,000 of illicit funds in the 2023 campaign against US$201,360 declared, and opened a 90-day formal investigation.
- —What it means for you US investors and travellers see a dollar economy in a sharp political fight, with street protests called but no change to the dollar system.
- —Still open Whether the defence appeals the order, where she will be held, and what evidence backs the allegation of cash from Venezuela.
- —Power Index Ecuador ranks 8th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 38.2 points (October 2026 edition).
Ecuador jails Luisa González, the opposition leader who lost two presidential runoffs to President Daniel Noboa, after a judge ordered pretrial detention for her on Friday 23 October 2026. Prosecutors allege that about US$500,000 of illicit money helped pay for her 2023 campaign, which she calls an absurd accusation.
Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency, so every sum in the case is a US-dollar sum, and under Noboa it is a US security partner. A judge holding the rival who lost to Noboa twice matters to US investors, security partners and travellers, five weeks before Ecuador’s local elections on Sunday 29 November.
We covered the arrest on Thursday in Ecuador Detains Luisa González on Laundering and set out the case in Luisa González Case Laberinto Explained, What We Know. This report covers Friday’s order, the evidence and the reactions.
What the Judge Decided on 23 October
Judge Harry Navarrete ordered pretrial detention for González, former assembly member Santiago Díaz and Wendy Onofre, the prosecutor’s office announced on Friday 23 October. The judge sits in the criminal guarantees unit for corruption and organised crime cases, Primicias reported.
The hearing to formalise charges began late on Thursday 22 October after a first attempt failed and ran into Friday, Teleamazonas and Primicias reported. El Universo said it was closed to the public and held by video link from the Cuartel Modelo detention centre in Guayaquil.
A fourth defendant, Estefanía Molina, who ran the campaign’s finances, was spared jail and must report to the court, stay in Ecuador and wear an electronic ankle monitor. Prosecutors had asked for pretrial detention only for the other three, and the prosecutor’s office said Molina cares for a child whose health condition requires her presence, Primicias reported.
Police detained González at her home in Canuto, in the coastal province of Manabí, in the early hours of Thursday 22 October and took her to Guayaquil. The prosecutor’s office also opened a 90-day period of formal investigation, known as instrucción fiscal, El Universo and Vistazo reported.
Pretrial detention is a precaution while the case is built, not a verdict. No court has found González guilty, and she keeps the presumption of innocence.
What Prosecutors Allege About US$500,000
Prosecutors say a parallel scheme moved about US$500,000 into advertising and logistics for the 2023 campaign of the Revolución Ciudadana movement, with money they say came from the illegal fuel trade. The campaign’s finance manager told the electoral council it had received 64 donations from individuals worth US$201,360, Vistazo reported.
Prosecutors name Terminal Naviero Petrolero Ternape Petroleum S.A., a fuel company linked to the business circle of Guayaquil mayor Aquiles Álvarez, as a channel for payments to advertising suppliers. They say price quotes were addressed to the movement but later invoices were issued to the company, and that a message of 18 August 2023 asked that one invoice avoid the word campaign.
A second route allegedly used bearer cheques that were cashed to pay campaign brigades, transport and logistics, Teleamazonas and Vistazo reported. Chats analysed by prosecutors point to a budget matrix assigning about US$725,933 to the campaign over two rounds, Primicias reported, a larger figure that has not been tested in court.
Álvarez, the titular mayor of Guayaquil, is in custody and has a first-instance conviction in a separate fuel-trade case called Triple A, as does the company, according to the prosecutor’s office quoted by Teleamazonas. El Universo adds that González was already under investigation in an older case called Caja Chica over alleged cash from Venezuela.
Presidential spokesman José Julio Neira said one hypothesis is that cash entered Ecuador from Venezuela, Primicias and Vistazo reported. The head of the financial analysis unit UAFÉ, Ana Paula Patiño, said the suspect operations were carried out by third parties of Venezuelan and Colombian nationality, Primicias reported.
Teleamazonas said the case began with a statement by Díaz, who is serving a prison sentence in an unrelated case. All of this is the prosecution’s theory, and the defendants have not yet answered it in a trial.
What González and Her Movement Say
González told the judge that she could have left Ecuador after police first searched her home on 28 January but did not, and that she returned from every trip abroad, Teleamazonas reported. On Thursday she called the accusation absurd and her detention political persecution, Primicias and El Universo reported.
Former president Rafael Correa, whose movement she represents, called the case “brutal persecution” and said González would be “buried alive” like Aquiles Álvarez and former vice president Jorge Glas, Primicias reported. He also asked what a presidential candidate has to do with finances that a campaign treasurer handles.
Revolución Ciudadana, the left-wing movement that González led into the 2023 and 2025 runoffs, called supporters to mobilise in Quito, El Universo reported. It also said it would take the case to international bodies.
After the ruling, González said she faces 19 cases at the prosecutor’s office and called the government a dictatorship, El Telégrafo reported. She urged supporters to cast null votes in the Manabí prefect race in the 29 November elections.
What the Government and Its Allies Say
Neira described the case as an inquiry into where about US$500,000 came from and who handled it, Primicias reported, and asked on X who sponsors a campaign with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Esteban Torres, vice president of the National Assembly for the governing ADN party, rejected the movement’s link between the case and the local elections and said being in politics does not sanctify what someone has done, Primicias reported.
Interior Minister John Reimberg ruled out any link between the arrest and the local elections and said “justice arrives, it is a matter of time,” El Universo reported. He also called Correa a fugitive and said Colombia and Venezuela had always financed his campaigns, an allegation for which the report of the interview gives no evidence.
Noboa told the Colombian magazine Semana on Thursday that Ecuador is “dismantling a large structure of drug trafficking and money laundering that includes former president Petro,” El Universo reported. He was answering Colombia’s former president Gustavo Petro, who had called Ecuador a dictatorship that began with electoral fraud, and the report gives no evidence for Noboa’s claim.
Prison Riots on the Same Day
Two prison riots on Thursday 22 October killed eight inmates, the prisons service SNAI said, as we covered in Ecuador Prison Riots Kill 8 on 22 October. Reimberg suggested the timing might not be a coincidence and said everyone could draw their own conclusions, El Universo reported, but no source reviewed shows a link.
What It Means for You
For US readers, the case tests how far a dollarised government and US security partner will use the courts against its main rival during an election season. Investors who track Ecuador’s political risk should watch the street response and whether the local elections on 29 November go ahead as scheduled.
Travellers should expect demonstrations in Quito, where the movement called supporters to the streets, and should follow local news and embassy advice. The case does not change the dollar system, and no US government statement on the arrest or the detention order appeared in the sources reviewed.
Our Ecuador geopolitics guide and profile of Daniel Noboa give the background on the security partnership and the president, and the Ecuador explainer explains the country. See also our Quito city guide.
What Is Not Known
It is not yet confirmed where González will be held. Her lawyer Diego Guarderas said she will serve the order in Quito, Extra reported, while SNAI denied a transfer to the Chillogallo prison and said not all transfers can be made public, Primicias reported.
It is not known whether the defence will appeal the detention order or when a trial could start. The text of the judge’s resolution could not be opened, so the decision rests on the prosecutor’s announcement as relayed by Primicias, El Universo, Teleamazonas and El Telégrafo.
The evidence behind the allegation of cash from Venezuela has not been made public, and no response from Álvarez appeared in the sources reviewed. Money laundering carries 5 to 22 years under article 317 of the criminal code, El Universo reported, while Vistazo cited 10 to 13 years, and any sentence depends on a court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Luisa González jailed in Ecuador?
A judge ordered pretrial detention for her on 23 October 2026 in a money laundering case called Laberinto, at the request of prosecutors. Prosecutors allege that about US$500,000 of illicit money funded her 2023 campaign, and she denies wrongdoing.
Has Luisa González been convicted?
No, pretrial detention is a precaution and not a verdict. No court has found her guilty, and a 90-day formal investigation has just opened.
Who is Luisa González?
She is a lawyer and former assembly member who ran for president for Revolución Ciudadana, the movement of former president Rafael Correa. She lost the runoffs to Daniel Noboa in 2023 and 2025.
Who else was jailed or restricted in the Laberinto case?
The judge also ordered pretrial detention for former assembly member Santiago Díaz and Wendy Onofre. A fourth defendant, Estefanía Molina, got reporting duties, a travel ban and an ankle monitor.
When are Ecuador’s local elections?
Ecuador holds its local elections on Sunday 29 November 2026, according to El Telégrafo. González has urged supporters to cast null votes in the Manabí prefect race.
Does the case affect Ecuador’s dollar economy?
Nothing in the sources reviewed suggests a change to the dollar system. The sums in the case are in US dollars, so no currency conversion is needed.
Sources: Primicias, pretrial detention, 23 October 2026; Primicias, SNAI and transfer, 23 October 2026; Primicias, government response, 23 October 2026; El Universo, judge’s order, 23 October 2026; El Universo, Noboa and Petro, 22 October 2026; Teleamazonas, pretrial detention, 23 October 2026; Teleamazonas, hearing, 23 October 2026; Vistazo, prosecution hypothesis, 23 October 2026; El Telégrafo, 23 October 2026; Extra, place of detention, 23 October 2026.
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