Nearly 200 businesses including three television stations were seized by Ecuador’s government yesterday. The 195 seized firms had been owned partially or entirely by the Isaias Group and the government claimed that it was owed $661 million after the collapse of the group’s Filanbanco bank in 1998.Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa claimed that the raids were justifiable in order to collect debts from “still extremely prosperous bankers” whose actions had crippled the country’s economy. The move was met with resistance from the former chiefs of the Filanbanco bank who currently live in Miami and are wanted by Ecuadorian prosecutors. Meanwhile one of the heads of the seized TV channels claimed that the government had engaged in censorship:
"This is an attack on freedom of expression," said Gamavision's manager, Carlos Dassum, who called on President Correa to rectify the situation.
"They're talking about Filanbanco's debts... we (Gamavision) don't owe anyone anything, we're an independent channel, we report and will continue to report the truth," he told the Spanish news agency Efe.
The incident, along with the subsequent resignation of the country’s Finance Minister, led to Ecuadorian bonds dropping by its steepest rate in almost three months.
Image- TIMESNOW.tv
Sources- BBC News, McClatchy Bureau, Canada.com, earthtimes.org
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