Leaked messages suggest US and Ecuador’s top prosecutor colluded as she attacked opponents and broke the law

Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil report that they have reviewed more than 1,500 leaked text messages that appear to have originated between Ecuadorian Attorney General Diana Salazar, praised by the U.S. government as an anti-corruption advocate, and former Ecuadorian National Assembly member Ronny Aleaga. The messages contain numerous shocking allegations, including claims Salazar apparently made that assassinated 2023 presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was a U.S. government informant. These and other recently leaked messages also suggest that Salazar has used her position to politically target members of the Ecuadorian left, and that she appears to have done so at times with the support of officials at the U.S. Embassy in Quito.

“These reports further confirm that ‘lawfare’ – the politicization of justice systems to target opponents – has been carried out in a blatant and aggressive manner in Ecuador, reminiscent of the same type of judicial persecution that put Brazil’s current president, Lula da Silva, in jail. It kept Lula – who stepped down as one of the world’s most popular presidents and was widely expected to be re-elected – off the ballot in Brazil’s 2018 elections before being subsequently acquitted,” said Alex Main, CEPR’s director of international policy.

The messages primarily cover the period from March 2023 to March of this year and were exchanged on an anonymous, private messaging platform called “Confide.” Aleaga, who leaked the messages to U.S. and Brazilian media, said he recorded and saved the messages (using a second cellphone) and had them reviewed and certified by a digital forensics firm. Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil say they have reviewed the forensic report.

The reports seem to indicate that Salazar is revealing her own extraordinarily illegal behavior. In a clear case of politicizing justice, “Seño,” who goes by Aleaga Salazar, admits that she postponed a corruption investigation into former President Guillermo Lasso and his brother-in-law and close business associate Danilo Carrera, because they thought the investigation would help former President Rafael Correa’s leftist Movement of the Citizens’ Revolution win early elections in 2023.

“Seño” also made several claims about US involvement and political intervention in Ecuador. They boasted about their close relationship and cooperation with the US embassy, ​​revealing that the embassy was worried that the “correistas” (supporters of former President Correa) would win the 2023 elections, strongly implying that their actions were part of a broader strategy to prevent the left from winning in Ecuador. “They (the US) want the head of RC,” “Seño” told Aleaga.

Following the Ecuadorian government’s invitation to the FBI to investigate Villavicencio’s murder in August 2023, “Seño” claimed that Villavicencio was a U.S. government informant. “Seño” also claimed that several suspects in his murder, who were killed while in Ecuadorian government custody, would have been sent to New York if they had not been killed. Verónica Sarauz, the widow of the slain candidate, recently appeared to confirm this, saying she knew the suspects would be taken out of the country.

Other messages show Salazar complaining that the FBI, which had gained access to Villavicencio’s phone, had transferred the phone’s contents to her office in a data dump, but that she suspected the FBI had erased information, which she considered “procedural fraud.”

In their exchanges, “Seño” unlawfully shares highly sensitive and confidential information about ongoing criminal investigations in Ecuador. The messages also suggest that Salazar used her privileged access to sensitive information and the power of her office to intimidate political actors or warn them to flee from impending arrest or prosecution. In the case of Aleaga — with whom she had a “‘secret’ relationship,” according to Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil — the messages reveal that she warned him that his arrest was imminent, and told him to flee the country to avoid it.

In their investigation, Drop Site News and The Intercept Brasil describe the messages as part of a pattern of Salazar abusing her authority. As such, they are investigating another scandal that recently came to light regarding the testimony of a former Ecuadorian judge, Wilman Terán, who had Salazar arrested in December in what appeared to be a politically motivated decision by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In recent months, Terán has alleged that Salazar intimidated him into ruling on Correa’s 2020 appeal. In a highly politicized and rushed trial, Correa — who has lived in Belgium since 2017 — was found guilty of exerting “psychic influence” on his associates to accept bribes. Terán also accused Salazar of hiding evidence from him. As in the case of Lula in 2018, this punishment prevented Correa from running in 2021.

Terán has also submitted his exchanges with Salazar for forensic examination, the results of which have been made public. In these messages, the Attorney General exhibited similar behavior to his communications with Aleaga, sharing confidential information and warning of impending prosecution. In a recent and blatant display of force majeure that underscores his immense power, Salazar ordered raids on the offices and homes of two National Court judges for favoring Terán. These judges had ruled that Terán should be transferred to another prison and given greater access to his legal team after he suffered “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”

These shocking revelations about Salazar’s unlawful behavior, politicization of the justice system, and numerous ethical violations are reminiscent of similar revelations reported in 2019 by The Intercept Brasil about the highly politicized trial of former President Lula. These revelations led Brazil’s Supreme Court to rule that Judge Sergio Moro was biased in his treatment of Lula. Subsequent investigative reports published by Brazil’s Agência Pública revealed that U.S. Department of Justice and FBI officials were deeply involved in the Lava Jato judicial operation that culminated in Lula’s capture. Members of Congress have twice requested that the U.S. Attorney General share more information about the U.S. role in Lava Jato, but have yet to receive a substantive response.

New revelations raise serious questions about continued US support for Salazar

These latest revelations raise serious questions about the potential involvement of the United States in politicized judicial processes in Ecuador and its continued support for Attorney General Diana Salazar, widely seen as a protégé of the U.S. government. In 2021, the State Department awarded Salazar its annual anti-corruption award, praising “her courageous actions” and hailing her as “a role model for judges, lawyers, and prosecutors throughout South America.” In 2024, Salazar was among the winners of the U.S. government-funded Wilson Center’s Award for Public Service “for her dedication to justice in Latin America.” That same year, Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, praised Diana Salazar in TIME, lauding the Ecuadorian attorney general, who “is now spearheading efforts to prevent violent and well-connected drug traffickers from ruining her beloved country” and “has earned the respect and support of a population desperate for calm and security.”

During her tenure, Salazar has frequently hosted U.S. officials, including Gen. Laura Richardson, the commander of U.S. Southern Command and special advisor to President Biden Christopher Dodd, who reportedly told Salazar, “you are not alone in this fight.” During her time in Washington, Salazar visited Attorney General Merrick Garland, who expressed his support for the “continued collaboration and partnership with @FiscaliaEcuador in the fight against transnational organized crime and corruption.”

In Ecuador, Salazar has enjoyed the unwavering support of the U.S. Embassy, ​​with regular public rallies and photo opportunities that have given her considerable political cover. When Salazar was accused of plagiarizing large parts of her graduate thesis, U.S. Ambassador Fitzpatrick responded to the accusations by posing with other diplomats for a photo opportunity next to Salazar and saying, “We reiterate our rejection of any violence or threats against the institutions and their representatives, and our commitment to respect for state institutions and the rule of law.”

This high-profile endorsement of successive US administrations and US foreign policy has given Salazar an aura of untouchability. But in recent months, Salazar has come under increasing criticism for the politicization of her office. As a result, Salazar now faces impeachment proceedings in the National Assembly, where she is accused of delaying prosecutions in several high-profile criminal investigations, including the “León de Troya,” “Encuentro,” and “INA Papers” cases, which involve corruption allegations against former presidents Lenín Moreno and Guillermo Lasso, and, in the case of Lasso, allegations of covering up his brother-in-law’s ties to drug trafficking.

“Salazar is facing impeachment and multiple allegations of ethics violations, but this latest news makes it clear that she is a political actor and may have broken the law to achieve political goals,” Main said. “The time has come for Washington’s unwavering support for Salazar to end and for this political persecution in Ecuador to end.”