President says frozen accounts revealed plots to use protest funds for destabilization and political gain.

Strike aftermath and government claims

Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, claimed on national television that groups linked to former president Rafael Correa and other political factions attempted to use the recent strike as a tool to “destabilize Ecuador and overthrow a legitimately elected president.” He said the administration, working through the Financial and Economic Analysis Unit (UAFE), uncovered money transfers that were intended to finance the protests led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie).

Noboa said the government’s financial intelligence network traced and froze funds that were supposedly designated for the demonstrations. “We were able to track and freeze funds that were going to be used to destabilize the government,” he said during his appearance on Teleamazonas. “The transfers had nothing to do with the supposed purpose of the accounts.”

Preventing chaos in the capital

The president praised the state’s response to more than a month of road blockades that had paralyzed parts of northern Ecuador. “We performed well during the strike,” Noboa said. “We protected the city from conflict,” referring to the fact that despite threats from Conaie, protesters never reached Quito.

Authorities reported that the strike—sparked by the end of the diesel subsidy—was most intense in Imbabura and northern Pichincha. It ended on October 22nd, after leaving 142 people arrested and three dead. Economic losses in Imbabura alone were estimated at over $100 million, with many small businesses forced to shut down during the unrest.

Political tensions resurface

While Noboa did not disclose the identities of those whose accounts were frozen, he confirmed that some belonged to Indigenous leaders. “If that money had reached the protests, it would have been devastating for many people,” he said. He added that the investigations would continue and that additional evidence was being reviewed to determine the extent of outside political involvement.

Noboa directly accused “Correism” —the movement aligned with former president Rafael Correa—of supporting the protests alongside other groups that sought to weaken his government. He described these efforts as “organized attempts to generate chaos and undermine stability.”

No dialogue with Correism—except its leader

When asked whether he would be open to dialogue with other political forces, Noboa dismissed the idea of meeting with former presidential candidate Luisa González. However, with a hint of irony, he said he would speak with her “boss,” Rafael Correa. “From the very first second of that conversation, he would start insulting me,” Noboa said. “I’d answer back, he’d get angrier, and soon he’d be running around like a madman in the attic.”

Noboa’s remarks signal that tensions between his government and the Correist opposition remain as fierce as ever—now intertwined with the fallout of a national strike that tested his administration’s political endurance and Ecuador’s fragile stability.