Arrest of Luisa González in Ecuador for money laundering weeks before elections
Ex-presidential candidate of the correísta movement Luisa González was detained in Canuto, Manabí, as part of the 'Laberinto' case for alleged money laundering.
Luisa González arrested in operation from Quito five weeks before local elections
Ecuador's National Police detained Luisa González in the early hours of Thursday, the ex-presidential candidate of the correísta movement in the 2023 and 2025 elections, according to diariolibre.com. The arrest was carried out in Canuto, a rural locality in Manabí province where González grew up, by agents sent directly from Quito.
The police zonal division in Manabí confirmed the detention without providing further details about the circumstances of the operation.
The Prosecutor's Office announced through social networks that it executed, together with the Police, three arrest warrants to bring charges for money laundering in the provinces of Manabí and Pichincha. The Public Ministry did not specify whether González is among those detained, although it did clarify that the proceedings correspond to the case known as 'Laberinto', which investigates "alleged irregularities in political financing and electoral spending on advertising during the 2023 presidential campaign, due to inconsistencies in contributions and the licit origin of the resources".
The detention occurs just five weeks before local elections scheduled for 29 November in Ecuador.
'Caja Chica' case and suspension of Citizen Revolution
Earlier this year, González had already been charged in the 'Caja Chica' case, in which the Prosecutor's Office attributes to her an alleged crime of organised crime for having financed the extraordinary 2023 presidential campaign with cash brought from Venezuela.
As a consequence, the Electoral Contentious Court (TCE) suspended Citizen Revolution in March, the party of former president Rafael Correa (2007–2017), at the request of the Prosecutor's Office. The correísta movement has denounced that measure as political persecution by the government of president Daniel Noboa to exclude them from local elections.
González, who lost in a runoff against Noboa in both 2023 and 2025, unsuccessfully attempted to register her candidacy for the Prefectoral office of Manabí under the backing of the indigenist party Pachakutik, the political wing of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie), having had her participation invalidated for failing to meet several legal requirements.
Correa reacts from abroad
The first alarm was raised by former president Correa himself through a message on the social network X. "They arrested Luisa González. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! Ecuador Will Win", he wrote, without providing further details. Sources from the correísta movement consulted by the EFE agency also offered no additional information about the scope of the statement.
Source: Google News EC — Crime