LatinNews Daily - 22 July 2024

*Ecuador’s Transport & Public Works Minister Roberto Luque has slammed a corruption allegation against him that was filed with prosecutors by a local citizen, Marlon Pasquel Espín. The allegation was made on 18 July after the Ecuadorean news outlet Primicias reported that a floating barge which was used to boost energy supply set off from Turkey on 16 June, six days before a public tender was held at which its services were contracted. This, Espín claimed, suggests influence peddling during the auction process. The barge was ordered under a state of emergency decreed by President Daniel Noboa in April in response to national power outages. Luque, who was acting energy & mining minister at the time the contract was awarded, responded by saying that the government’s critics “can’t wrap their heads around the idea that there can be emergency contracts that don’t involve corruption, overcharging, or bribery”.