Luisa González flown to Andean highlands and jailed in Riobamba as Laberinto probe begins its 90-day clock

Illustrative image: Chimborazo volcano, seen from Bolívar province. Photo: Jorge Orozco / Unsplash (Unsplash License). It does not show the prison or the transfer.

Luisa González, the former presidential candidate of Ecuador’s Revolución Ciudadana movement and one of the most prominent opponents of President Daniel Noboa, spent her first night in pretrial detention at the women’s prison in Riobamba, in the Andean province of Chimborazo, after a high-security transfer from Guayaquil on Friday, October 23.

The move came hours after a judge granted prosecutors’ request to jail her while they investigate alleged money laundering in the so-called Laberinto case, which centres on how her 2023 election campaign was financed.

A transfer by air and road

According to El Universo and El Comercio, González left the Cuartel Modelo police facility in Guayaquil, where she had been held since her arrest on Thursday, shortly after 16:05 local time. A police vehicle took her to an air force base, and a flight landed at the airport in Latacunga, Cotopaxi province, around 19:30.

From there, a convoy with police and military escort drove her south to Chimborazo. El Comercio reported that the convoy reached the Riobamba women’s detention centre after 21:00, while supporters waved Ecuadorian flags and banners behind security fences. Revolución Ciudadana legislator Patricia Núñez, who represents Chimborazo, was among them. EFE later confirmed that González had entered the Riobamba prison.

Who else was jailed

The same court order sent two other people to pretrial detention: Santiago Díaz Asque, a former campaign collaborator, and Wendy Onofre Gaibor, secretary of the RETO movement. Onofre surrendered voluntarily in Guayas and was taken on Friday night to a women’s detention centre in Chillogallo, south Quito, according to El Comercio. A fourth person, Estefanía Molina Freire, received alternative measures: regular appearances before the court, a travel ban and an electronic monitoring device.

The fiscal investigation phase lasts 90 days, during which the detention order applies.

What prosecutors allege

Prosecutors allege that Revolución Ciudadana channelled illicit funds, linked to unauthorised trade in hydrocarbons, into the 2023 snap election campaign, including advertising costs that were not declared. Prosecutors are also tracing the origin and destination of USD 500,000 and want to show that money came from Aquiles Alvarez, the jailed mayor of Guayaquil, EFE reported. Earlier coverage by Primicias described more than USD 725,000 being traced in connection with Alvarez.

None of these allegations has been proven in court. González, like every defendant, is presumed innocent.

Her response and the political stakes

González rejected the accusations, saying she is “innocent” and a victim of “political persecution”, and that she wants to defend herself in person and inside the country, EFE reported. She says she faces 19 separate prosecutorial proceedings. Her movement, founded by former president Rafael Correa, accuses Noboa’s government of persecuting opponents.

The case lands five weeks before local elections on November 29. At prosecutors’ request, Revolución Ciudadana has been suspended and barred from taking part in that vote, according to EFE.

Confirmed and pending

Confirmed: pretrial detention for González, Díaz and Onofre; alternative measures for Molina; transfer to Riobamba on Friday night; a 90-day investigation period.

Pending: whether the defence appeals the detention order; any formal statement from the government; the evidence prosecutors will present on the origin of the campaign funds.

Sources

• El Comercio — Luisa González is transferred to the Riobamba prison (Oct 23, 2026)
• El Universo — Luisa González arrives in Latacunga, to be moved to Riobamba (Oct 23, 2026)
• EFE via ABC Color — Opposition ex-candidate Luisa González enters pretrial detention (Oct 24, 2026)
• Primicias — Laberinto case: funds traced to Aquiles Alvarez (Oct 23, 2026)

Celina Santa Cruz · Ecuador · Virtual editorial byline
English adaptation: Lin Wei · Editorial direction: Leonidas Ferraz · October 24, 2026 · AI-assisted writing