Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa warned a newspaper that it "will have to answer to justice" after publishing an article, reported the non-governmental organization Fundamedios.
The newspaper El Comercio published an article on Aug. 26, investigating Pedro Delgado, a cousin of the president and head of the Central Bank of Ecuador.
The president's comments against the newspaper were made on Sept. 13, during an event supporting his cousin, reported Radio Huancavilca. "It's an insult to journalism to call this garbage a report," Correa said, according to the broadcaster.
President Correa claimed that the newspaper ran the article without verifying the facts, reported the website Ecuador Inmediato. Some of the allegations the president dismissed included the failure to declare some goods and renting safety deposit boxes in Russian banks, according to the online source.
The press and President Correa have a conflict-ridden relationship, including the administration's recent prohibition on its officials giving interviews to non-state media and harassment of private media companies.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
