QUITO: Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa said Thursday that an unknown assailant had attempted to poison him with chocolate and a jam laced with chemicals, gifted to him at a public event.
Noboa told CNN the presence of three “highly concentrated” toxic substances in the sweets “could not have been accidental,” saying his team had proof to back up his claims.
The 37-year-old president said the toxic substances could not have come from the products themselves or their packaging.
The military body responsible for his security detail had filed a complaint with prosecutors.
It is the second time that Noboa’s administration has alleged an attempt on his life, amid Indigenous anti-government protests and spiralling crime.
Earlier this month, the government said that Noboa’s vehicle bore bullet marks after his motorcade was set upon by a group of stone-throwing protesters angry about rising fuel prices.
Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo called it an “assassination attempt.”
No evidence was presented from the scene, such as bullet casings. Noboa emerged unscathed.
The country’s largest organization of Indigenous peoples, called Conaie, have blocked roads — including in the capital’s Pichincha province — since September 22 over mounting fuel costs.
Some experts have suggested that Noboa’s allegations about attempts on his life could be a way to portray the protesters as violent to boost his political fortune.
“No one throws a Molotov cocktail at themselves...or poisons themselves with chocolate, or throws stones at themselves,” Noboa said.
The president is preparing for a November 16 referendum which he hopes will pave the way for him to draft a constitution that is tougher on drug-related crime.
Ecuador, once one of Latin America’s safest countries, has become a key cocaine transit hub between top producers Colombia and Peru, and consumers around the world.
Murder rates have soared, while car bombings, assassinations and prison massacres have become routine.
Ecuador’s president says he was target of attempted poisoning
https://arab.news/g6huy
Ecuador’s president says he was target of attempted poisoning
- It is the second time that Noboa’s administration has alleged an attempt on his life, amid Indigenous anti-government protests and spiralling crime
- Earlier this month, the government said that Noboa’s vehicle bore bullet marks after his motorcade was set upon by a group of stone-throwing protesters angry about rising fuel prices
A Paris court finds 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France’s first lady Brigitte Macron
PARIS: A Paris court found Monday 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France’s first lady Brigitte Macron by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, including allegations she was born a man.
The court convicted all defendants to sentences ranging from a cyberbullying awareness training to 8-month suspended prison sentences.
The court pointed to “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious” comments referring to false claims regarding alleged trans identity and alleged pedo criminality targeting Brigitte Macron.
The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, are accused of having posted “numerous malicious comments” falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron ‘s wife was born a man and linking their 24-year age gap to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.
Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October. Speaking on TF1 national television Sunday, she said she launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.
Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she described as the “deterioration” of her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auzière told the court. She said the impact has extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.
Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, who is known as Amandine Roy and describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumor after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021. She was given a 6-month prison sentence.
The X account of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known as Zoé Sagan on social media, was suspended in 2024 after his name was cited in several judicial investigations. Poirson-Atlan was given an 8-month prison sentence.
Other defendants include an elected official, a teacher and a computer scientist. Several told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted.
The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons have also filed a defamation suit in the United States against conservative influencer Candace Owens.
The Macrons, who have been married since 2007, first met at the high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years her husband’s senior, was then called Brigitte Auzière, a married mother of three.
Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been France’s president since 2017.
