Weekly Report - 5 February 2009 (ISSN 1741-7422)

ECUADOR | Corruption. The security minister, Gustavo Larrea, was compelled to withdraw his candidacy for April's congressional elections this week only days after resigning his position in order to stand. This is a blow to President Rafael Correa. Larrea, along with the interior minister, Fernando Bustamante, who also quit his post this week to run for a seat in congress, is one of Correa's strongmen. Larrea said he had stepped aside after becoming the victim of a “character assassination" in the press, which has been highlighting his ties to an adviser, José Ignacio Chauví­n, who is wanted on drug-trafficking charges.

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