Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Former presidential candidate of Ecuador and a leading figure of the left-wing Citizen Revolution (RC), Luisa González was arrested on Thursday, October 22, in Canuto, Manabí province, in an operation related to an investigation for alleged money laundering. The Citizen Revolution called the procedure political persecution and demanded to know her whereabouts and obtain her immediate release.
The Attorney General’s Office of Ecuador reported that, together with the Police, it executed arrest warrants in the provinces of Pichincha and Manabí against three people investigated for their alleged involvement in money laundering. The institution said that the objective of the arrests was to formulate charges. According to a report by Últimas Noticias, the operation is associated with an investigation into alleged irregularities in the financing and advertising spending of the 2023 presidential campaign. These are accusations under investigation, not proven facts.
Former President Rafael Correa confirmed the arrest in a social media post and wrote: “They arrested Luisa González. ENOUGH ALREADY!”
Apresaron a Luisa González.
¡YA BASTAAA!!!
#EcuadorVencerá— Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) October 22, 2026
The president of the RC, Gabriela Rivadeneira, asked for information about the whereabouts of González and demanded her immediate release, as reported by Sputnik. The party called the arrest arbitrary and part of a persecution against c**orreísmo.
A first-person statement by Luisa González was subsequently published on her official X account. In the text, she called the accusation “absurd” and denounced political persecution and attacks on freedoms under the far-right government of Daniel Noboa, reported Sputnik.
A mi patria querida 💛💙❤️ https://t.co/fJrIXAvG0B
— Luisa González (@LuisaGonzalezEc) October 22, 2026
The post raises a question still unanswered: it is not known who published the post, while the RC leadership claimed not to know González’s whereabouts. According to analysts, in all probability she herself could not publish the post from where she is kept detained, although they agree that she surely left instructions for it to be published in case of her detention.
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The arrest exacerbates the strife between Noboa’s government and the main opposition force in Ecuador. The RC asserts that the judicial actions against its leaders are aimed at weakening its organization and limiting its political participation. In Latin America, popular forces have repeatedly condemned the use of judicial processes to displace grassroots and leftist movements from the political arena that challenge the establishment.
The RC also demanded that the authorities make the foundations of the case public and respect the guarantees of due process.
Similarly, Correa noted that the arrest is part of a persecution against the RC, something that many analysts agree on.
¡Increíble!
¡Fuerza Luisa! https://t.co/GBuhXRSgih— Rafael Correa (@MashiRafael) October 22, 2026
For the RC, the judicial process against Luisa González cannot be considered separately from the context of political harassment that the movement is facing, as evidenced by the political persecution against former President Rafael Correa, who is living under asylum in Belgium, and former Vice President Jorge Glas, who is in prison under conditions that have put his life in danger.
In response to such cases, the movement demands judicial transparency and guarantees so that the opposition can organize and participate without the accusation of a crime becoming—before a verdict—an instrument of political proscription.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC/CD
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