Ecuador’s Vice President Verónica Abad connects by video call to give her last interview to a media outlet, at least for a while. It is four o’clock in the morning on Monday, September 9 in Israel. She has her bags packed and her hair and makeup done, but despite her efforts, fatigue and anxiety are evident. A new presidential decree forces her to travel to Turkey, where she has been forbidden to speak about the conflict in the Middle East and Ecuador’s internal affairs. Earlier, she had left her two children, aged 16 and 19, at the Tel Aviv airport, who had accompanied her on the “mediation” mission for peace between Israel and Palestine, appointed by Daniel Noboa, after the breakdown of the relationship between the two, which was evident when they surprisingly won the first round of elections.
The position of ambassador to Israel was one of the 500 options that the president had, as he himself revealed in an interview in January. “I could have sent her to be in charge of the Antarctic station,” said Noboa. However, in an act that the government interprets as magnanimous, he sent her to a country at war on an absurd mission, given the scant impact that Ecuador has on an issue of such magnitude. In reality, it was just a measure of pressure to get her to resign.
In early August, amid the escalation of the conflict in Gaza and Iran’s threat of a possible attack on Israel, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry urged Ecuadorian citizens living in the Middle East to leave those countries for safety. In contrast, Vice President Abad received a presidential order to travel to Turkey. Before landing in Ankara, the Turkish capital, Abad spoke to EL PAÍS to explain that this is a new maneuver to muzzle her and pressure her to resign from office. The second in command assures that the only thing missing for Noboa not to transfer power to her when the electoral campaign begins in January is for her life to be taken.
Ask: Why is she being sent to Türkiye?
Answer. The ultimate intention is to silence me. The Government is trying to silence me once again so that I do not interfere in its political campaign, which it is clearly already immersed in. My move to Turkey has not been properly prepared. We have been at various working meetings where administrative abuses have been committed that once again affect my family. They suggested that I leave my children in Israel and go to Turkey alone. It is not true that the move is for security reasons, the Government and the Chancellor are lying. The diplomatic team, for example, has decided to stay in Israel, while I have to go alone.
P. What duties have they assigned you there?
R. I have no functions. What they have done is put me on the other side of the conflict. The only thing I have received are orders from a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs (Augusto Barberis) telling me that I must be in Turkey on September 1. The most serious thing about their statement is that I can go, as long as I do not make public statements about the conflict between Israel and Palestine or about the internal politics of Ecuador. They are sending me to gag me. I have requested explanations as to why they are sending me to Turkey, but so far I have not received any answers. These are the pressures for me to resign and leave office on my own. The terrible enemy, as the president himself has described himself, has no limits.
P. President Noboa accuses her of attempting a coup d’état and of clinging to power because of the complaint of political gender violence she made against him and three other officials, in which she has called for his dismissal.
R. The evidence is public. I don’t know what else the president is up to; this is beyond any horror movie. What else is he going to do to force my resignation? It is not a question of will, it is what the Constitution dictates. The president has decided to participate as a candidate, it is his right, but he must resign from his office, because the elections must be democratic and fair.
P. What do you think will happen until then?
R. The only thing missing is for them to take my life. Because there is no other way, nor can the Noboa government invent a mechanism to prevent it. No matter how much they slander my name and destroy my family, as they are doing. This has to do with the fundamental pillar of a country, which is democracy. Out of respect for the Constitution, I am rushing to Ankara at this hour of the morning to comply with a decree, because the Constitution mandates it. I hope that President Noboa does the same and does not continue to trample on the law, institutions, families and women as he has done until now.
P. Have you received support from other national political parties?
R. No. I believe that Ecuadorians, including the political parties, who are exercising democracy, are adhering to the law, not to Verónica Abad. I believe that the Ecuadorian people, even if the judges say otherwise, are convinced that it is fair for this succession to take place.
P. When they tried to lift her immunity to prosecute her, she received support from political groups such as Revolución Ciudadana. Have you not spoken with Rafael Correa?
R. No, and I am not interested in talking to any leader. Because I am not a candidate, I am not in elections; I am fulfilling my duty, carrying out the functions that were delegated to me from the moment I was assigned the peace mission. I am fulfilling my role as vice president for which I was elected. It makes no sense for me to talk to political leaders when there is already a political competition in Ecuador.
P. If there is a succession – she will take office while there is a new president in February 2025 – what would be the first thing she would do as president?
R. Guaranteeing a transparent and clean process, which is what the Electoral Council must do. I will be in charge of the executive part, of not misusing the public structure or the assets of Ecuadorians. Because of the campaign, this Government has neglected such important aspects as security, the electricity crisis and the lack of employment, things that were never in our political program. There is not much time to do more than guarantee peace and impartiality.
P. How would you govern with a government that you have denounced as having banished and mistreated you?
R. These are the necessary adjustments for the country. We cannot have a minister who is dedicated to making propaganda, when we already see that a Minister of Defense gives his opinion on the electrical issue, which is the responsibility of another minister, the Minister of Energy. Why is everything a campaign at this moment? The minister who wants to play his role will do so, not to persecute vice presidents and use all the government infrastructure. Because that is what they did with the mocking show by resorting to the law, accusing me of organizing a coup d’état. A woman who is alone, with two children, without security, running to a bunker, according to them, to attempt a coup d’état. It is a government of shame and falsehoods.
P. What will be your conditions in Türkiye?
R. I don’t know. This is the information I have repeatedly asked for, as to why they chose Turkey, but so far I have not received any answers. The vice president is not an object of use for a president.
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