Ecuador’s conservative President Guillermo Lasso has dissolved the opposition-led National Assembly in a move widely seen as an effort to block efforts to impeach him, and came as the body held its first hearing into corruption and embezzlement allegations against Lasso. Lasso used a constitutional power that has never been used in Ecuador before, allowing him to rule by decree until new elections are held. That vote is likely to come in August, and Lasso told The Washington Post he does not plan to run again. For more on the political crisis in Ecuador, we speak with Andrés Arauz, the Ecuadorian politician and economist who ran against Lasso for president in 2021. He previously served as director of Ecuador’s central bank and then minister of knowledge and human talent under the administration of former leftist President Rafael Correa. He’s also a senior research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.