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For a decade, he was the most powerful and perhaps the most feared man in Ecuador. Irascible, popular and charismatic the former president Rafael Correa descended from fame to be close to the prison. And everything in the blink of an eye.
His off hours began as soon as he had left the presidency that he had conquered in 2006, while he was coming out of the Ministry of Finance's academy and then heading a government to socialist vocation with only 43
Correa ended his term in May 2017 with average support in the polls. So no one imagined that the politician who had left the country between living, would, according to him, be devoted to his family, on the way to what could become a forced exile in Belgium, where he is his wife.
Last week, a court called him to appear before for his alleged involvement in the brief kidnapping of an opponent in 2012 in Colombia, accusing the ex -governor attributes to political persecution.
The judge ordered pre-trial detention and asked Interpol to seize the red alert to capture the former president.
"As they can not – you can not show me corruption, now I'm a" kidnapper, "he joked Correa in the middle of the investigation
The law precludes his judgment in the absence, reason why the exmandatario, who lives in Belgium, will have to stay outside for seven years if he wants to avoid a possible conviction, They take the time to prescribe the crimes alleged against the prosecution.
The judicial proceedings will continue against the two police officers involved: Diana Falcón and Raúl Chicaiza, both of whom are in pre-trial detention and, after Be declared against Correa, were included in the witness protection program .
The other involved person who was tried, the former secretary of the intelligence service of the government correísta Pablo Romero can not be judged either, since he has ty arrested and released in June in Spain.
It could be the epilogue of a bad year, perhaps the worst that the leftist leader of modest origin had to face for a decade. The reins of a country with ungovernable reputation (with seven presidents in ten years, three of them overthrown during popular protests).
Moments of Despair
Before leaving for Europe, Correa had left the veil on the campaign that had ended with the election of L & # 39; 39, official Lenin Moreno, his vice president between 2007-2013.
The one who was previously his ally and the one who was chosen to pursue his socialist project had his own plans for government, but he quickly consumed the break that Correa equated with treason.
The former president lost control of the party he founded and then met Moreno's electoral defeat, in a referendum that closed the door on his return to power.
To this failure are added the signs of corruption of his government, in which his former vice-president Jorge Glas (2013-2017) is in prison, and the investigations that finally prevented him from appearing in court.
of his loyalists, former MP Virgilio Hernandez, said Correa was facing the moment with "strength and vitality" and that despite the distance, his legal team "made vehement recommendations" .
"Do not worry about me," said Correa shortly before the trial. And he warned: "They are becoming ridiculous and, although belated, international justice will come in. Until victory always!"
Nostalgia for Power?
While organizing his defense, Correa remains very active on Twitter to refute the accusations of the Ecuadorian prosecutor and try to protect the "decade gained" as he calls his legacy.
Perhaps the social networks constitute a modest trench for this economist turned politician who, in power, gave speeches and directed every seven days a program of radio and television of a duration up to at four o'clock, with interventions laden with ridicule and fierce criticism from his opponents.
The humanistic left-wing Catholic – as it is often said – did not bite his tongue by attacking the press he considered corrupt, and the bankers and rich he called "pelucones".
Accustomed to. to be able to do justice on its own on Saturday, for Correa, it should not be easy to be far away and especially without control of the situation.
"I think that beyond a distance in kilometers (between Quito and Brussels), it's the difference of being in power or not.I guess it must be very difficult from this point of view, "said the journalist Mónica Almeida, who, along with her colleague Ana Karina López, wrote" El séptimo Rafael ", an unauthorized biography of the exmandatario.
A bitter and unsuspected end to the ruler that his enemies describe as authoritarian and who got everything that had been proposed by the government: a new constitution to get the United States out of business. a given base for the fight against drugs, in addition to promoting deep reforms that reduce
alleged Correa crime: embezzlement
Judge Daniela Camacho opens an investigation at the 39; against former President Rafael Correa for the alleged crime of embezzlement related to the kidnapping abduction of the adversary Fernando Balda Flores, occurred on August 13, 2012 in Colombia.
The crime is linked to an alleged misappropriation of public funds which, according to article 278 of the Penal Code of Ecuador, provides for the misuse of bins, public or private funds used for their benefit or to that of third parties. from 10 to 13 years old. In addition, it specifies that if the agent is guilty, he can be excluded for life to exercise public functions in the country.
According to the judge, it would be proven that public funds were used to rent the vehicle in which Balda was kidnapped. Correa has benefited from a precautionary measure, such as the prohibition to sell his property, the immobilization of all bank accounts and preventive detention.
Camacho also opened an investigation against Pablo Romero, an ex-officio member of the National Intelligence Secretariat; and the exaggerated Raúl Chicaiza and Diana Falcón.
According to the documents, it is stated that ex-Chicaiza spent just over $ 43,000 in Bogotá. In addition, at the hearing, the Prosecutor presented evidence claiming the use of public funds in personal expenses.
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