Ecuador's Minister of Agriculture resigns for his alleged involvement in a corruption scheme

MADRID, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Minister of Agriculture of Ecuador, Bernardo Manzano, has resigned this Tuesday after information has emerged in the country's media that cast doubt on the way in which he obtained the position in May 2022.

Specifically, the departure of the third Minister of Agriculture from the Government of President Guillermo Lasso follows the information published by the newspaper La Posta, based on a Police report, which details that Manzano was appointed as minister due to the management by a person outside the administration.

"In the last few hours, a digital portal has stated that my arrival at your Government is due to a management by a person outside the administration," the now ex-minister announced in a statement released on social networks.

"Despite the falsity of these statements (...) I consider it prudent to step aside and prevent this unfortunate coincidence from being used to harm the Government and cast doubt on the integrity of its management," he added.

Manzano had entered the State portfolio after delivering his resume to Rubén Cherres, a friend of Danilo Carrera, who is also the brother-in-law of the president of Ecuador, according to La Posta in its investigation.

The resignation of the minister takes place at a time when Lasso's relative is being investigated for his relationship with an alleged corruption scheme in public companies in the country.

The alleged corruption plot points to a structure created by Danilo Carrera with which he allegedly received bribes from suppliers of the Electricity Corporation of Ecuador (Celec) and National Electricity (CNEL).

The investigation, in turn, concludes that the president’s Government would have links with the Albanian mafia, through Rubén Cherres, who would be Danilo Carrera’s main operator, Telesur has reported.