The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboaannounced, this Tuesday 22, that it canceled a trip to São Paulo in light of the trial of its Minister of the Interior, Mónica Palencia, who is facing a request for impeachment due to insecurity due to drug trafficking violence.
Noboa was one of the confirmed speakers at the Bloomberg New Economy event, which takes place in a hotel in the central region of the Capital of São Paulo until Wednesday 23rd and will discuss topics such as biodiversity and climate change.
“I made the decision to cancel the official visit to Brazil, where I had planned to participate in the Climate Change Forums”, indicated the representative on the social network X, formerly Twitter.
Noboa, who was due to travel this Tuesday, added: “I will not leave Mónica Palencia alone, I will accompany her on her entire journey”.
Palencia must appear at the National Assembly on Wednesday, where the majority opposition is divided, to be politically judged for failure to fulfill his duties.
The legislative bloc allied with the former president Rafael Correa (who governed between 2007 and 2017) argues that the minister should be removed because she is responsible for the lack of a security plan to combat drug trafficking, which violently disputes areas of power.
Correa’s supporters have 48 of the 137 seats and the ruling party has around 40 with the support of allies. For the impeachment42 votes are needed.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gabriela Sommerfeld, will represent Noboa at the environmental forums to be held in São Paulo.
“I am sure that the Minister of Foreign Affairs will represent the Ecuador at the highest level, seeking regional solutions to the energy crisis, while I face it here with the rest of the team,” he said.
The country is also facing a water crisis due to the worst drought in six decades, which this year has led to a drop in electricity production – triggering eight-hour-a-day blackouts. In addition, there were around 3,600 forest fires, an interruption in the supply of drinking water and problems in agricultural production and the telecommunications sector.
“We are going through moments that challenge us as a country; we have to face them with determination and firmness,” said Noboa, who took office last November and will seek re-election in the general elections next February.
Because of the drought, which is affecting the reservoirs of hydroelectric plants that cover 70% of national energy demand, 20 of Ecuador’s 24 provinces are on red alert.
With information from AFP.
