By Hedelberto López Blanch on October 26, 2021.
Everything seems to indicate that Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, due to his political, economic and financial mistakes, has a noose around his neck which, if tightened, will force him to finish his term of office before the end of his term, as it has happened before with three other presidents of that Andean nation.
Only five months after taking office for the first time, the millionaire Lasso has tried to lead the country along a deep neoliberal path and has made mistakes that seem to be difficult to erase despite the strong support of the hegemonic media.
Since it had to comply with the obligations contracted with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that this organization would disburse US$ 802 million at the end of October and US$ 700 million in December, it sent to the National Assembly the draft of the “Organic Law for the Creation of Opportunities, Economic Development and Fiscal Sustainability” with an economic-urgent character, in order to be able to get through the last months of 2021.
Crass blunder since the project sent on August 17, was sent back to him to correct several sections with which the legislative body is in complete disagreement.
Lasso, who at that time enjoyed a certain popularity for having effectively carried out a massive campaign against Covid-19, threatened to take the Law to a popular referendum if the National Assembly did not approve it.
With great haste he resubmitted it on September 24, in the midst of a prison crisis that resulted in the murder of 120 inmates and more than 80 wounded, an event that shocked society.
The main political parties and movements in the Assembly issued a message in which they ratified to the government that they would not approve any fiscal, tax, economic or labor reform against workers’ rights.
The bloody events in the prisons of the city of Guayaquil, once again evidenced the serious economic and social conflicts that Ecuador is going through, with high unemployment, rampant poverty, lack of opportunities and concentration of income in the wealthy classes.
With this unflattering panorama, the financial bombshell called Pandora Papers exploded in Lasso’s face, an investigation of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) where the president appears linked to 14 offshore companies (tax havens) established in Panama, the United States and Canada.
At the beginning, the Ecuadorian president denied any type of relationship or benefit with these companies, but after a few days he retracted his statement and declared that he had some interests outside the country. Now the National Assembly approved a commission to open the investigation which will determine next November 6 whether to initiate an impeachment trial against the head of state.
Already since 2017, the newspaper Página 12 published investigations in which it uncovered that Lasso was linked to the creation of about 49 offshore companies and in early 2021, that newspaper revealed that behind the financing of the presidential campaign were his numerous companies in Tax Havens and Banco Guayaquil (where he was its president for 20 years and remains as one of the main shareholders).
In those years it is assured that his fortune grew immeasurably and at present it is unknown how much it amounts to. But the following detail is enough: Lasso when trying to justify the capital he has abroad assured that he paid in the last years 588 million dollars only in taxes.
Let us analyze in broad strokes the economic-social situation in the country: poverty stands at 35% and extreme poverty at 14.2%; more than 5.6 million Ecuadorians survive on less than 84 dollars a month. In rural areas it reaches 47.9 % of the families. Malnutrition affects 26% of children aged 0 to 5 years, and this figure rises to 40% in rural areas.
A study by the research foundation Donum reveals that Ecuador has regressed to its 2010 parameters. According to the Central Bank added that during the pandemic, 532,000 jobs have been eliminated and a loss of 12,791 million dollars in the productive sector. The public debt rose to 64% of the GDP with a monetary reserve that only represents 20% of the government’s monthly expenditure.
Regardless of this adverse situation, the President introduced his neoliberal law proposal which attempts to create an alternative labor regime to the current Labor Code which eliminates all labor rights in force until now in order to establish a regime of absolute labor flexibilization.
In another section, temporary contributions are established through tax impositions, basically on the middle class, which would increase international reserves to guarantee capital flows to private banks.
Likewise, reforms to several legal bodies of different sectors are contemplated, which underlie the deregulation of the State and the transfer of public capacities to the private sector.
But as the National Assembly refuses to accept these impositions, the millionaire president has threatened to dissolve this parliamentary body in an anti-democratic and arrogant act.
Faced with the National Assembly, with the country in a multifaceted crisis, with a loss of morale due to tax evasion and pending the outcome of the Commission that will determine whether he will be impeached, in addition to his intention to deepen the neoliberal measures against the majority of the people, Lasso seems destined to follow the path of previous Ecuadorian presidents such as Abdalá Bucarán, Jamil Mahuad and Lucio Gutiérrez who had to leave office before their terms expired.
More accusations against Guillermo Lasso in tax havens case
The situation of Guillermo Lasso, Ecuadorian president and the Pandora Papers case is complicated by new complaints filed by the progressive movement Union for Hope (UNES) and companies located in tax havens.
In declarations to the press, from the National Assembly, legislator Mónica Palacios, offered the details she obtained in Panama.
The legislator assured, while showing several proofs, that they will prove that Guillermo Lasso is corrupt and that he lied to the country in his sworn statement to be candidate of the republic and also lied when he said that he does not have assets and capital in tax havens. We have all the documentation to prove it.
According to what he explained, the Official Gazette of the Central American country indicates that on September 10, 2020 Lasso transferred his shares of the company PietroOverseas to his children, in a new offshore company called Banisi International Foundation, which was officially registered on October 19 of that year.
Consequently, the parliamentarian pointed out, the current ruler violated the ethical pact of the popular consultation, which prohibits aspirants to dignities and public officials to have assets in tax havens, since his registration as presidential candidate took place one month before the entry into force of the resolution in Panama.
Palacios added that all the documentation compiled, duly notarized, will be submitted to the Constitutional Guarantees Commission investigating this case.
The new denunciations of UNES were made public in the midst of an investigation being carried out by the Parliament, to elucidate the alleged links of the President with offshore companies, pointed out in a journalistic study called Pandora Papers.
The report prepared by around 600 communicators belonging to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, revealed that in 2017 Lasso dissolved 11 companies in Panama and the United States.
Meanwhile, the head of state confirmed what was exposed and disassociated himself from three other companies mentioned, with which, he alleges he has no relationship. So far, he maintains that he has complied with all required tax payments and acts under the laws.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano