Ecuador’s president raises the alarm over attempted poisoning

The Ecuadorian President, Daniel Noboa, said on Thursday that an unknown assailant had attempted to poison him with chocolate and a jam laced with chemicals, gifted to him at a public event.

Noboa told CNN that the presence of three “highly concentrated” toxic substances in the sweets “could not have been accidental,” saying his team had proof to back up his claims.

The 37-year-old president said the toxic substances could not have come from the products themselves or their packaging.

The military body responsible for his security detail had filed a complaint with prosecutors.

It is the second time that Noboa’s administration has alleged an attempt on his life, amid Indigenous anti-government protests and spiralling crime.

ADVERTISEMENT

Earlier this month, the government said that Noboa’s vehicle bore bullet marks after his motorcade was set upon by a group of stone-throwing protesters angry about rising fuel prices.

Defence Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo called it an “assassination attempt.”

No evidence was presented from the scene, such as bullet casings. Noboa emerged unscathed.

The country’s largest organisation of Indigenous peoples, called Conaie, have blocked roads — including in the capital’s Pichincha province — since September 22 over mounting fuel costs.

Some experts have suggested that Noboa’s allegations about attempts on his life could be a way to portray the protesters as violent to boost his political fortune.

“No one throws a Molotov cocktail at themselves…or poisons themselves with chocolate, or throws stones at themselves,” Noboa said.

The president is preparing for a November 16 referendum, which he hopes will pave the way for him to draft a constitution that is tougher on drug-related crime.

Ecuador, once one of Latin America’s safest countries, has become a key cocaine transit hub between top producers Colombia and Peru, and consumers around the world.

Murder rates have soared, while car bombings, assassinations and prison massacres have become routine.