A book Chinese debt secrets which was presented on the night of November 28 makes several revelations about the harsh and opaque conditions under which Ecuador entered into debt agreements with China. Among them, the terms of pre-sale of oil in the amount of 18 billion dollars are presented.

The book, created by journalists such as Katherine Erazo, Cristina Solórzano, Mercedes Álvaro and María Elena Verdezoto, under the direction of Christian Zurite and with the support of the Mil Hojas Foundation, was made possible thanks to the 5,000 documents collected for the first time by Fernando Villavicencio, a former presidential candidate who was killed by assassins on August 9, 2023, eleven days before the last election. In this sense, the journalists emphasized the contribution of someone who had a strong journalistic career and was also the president of the Supervisory Commission in the previous convocation of the National Assembly.

Zurita explained that Fernando Villavicencio “was the one who paved the way, who found the information, who looked for financiers and who structured the first project. Then he opened another way. However, it’s ready, that information you’ve worked so hard for is now a reality.”

In this sense, Katherine Erazo commented that as co-authors of the book, they always thought about the role that Villavicencio played in the transparency of information. “He has always wanted that freedom, including in the flow of information and access to information. This is part of his legacy, but a dedication to transparency that has been hidden for a long time.”

In terms of discovery, the book reveals the use of the “sovereign immunity from extreme conditions” clause, which Zurita qualifies as a tool for the subjugation process. Related to this issue, Zurita recalled that he had the opportunity to speak with former Chinese ambassador Cai Rungu, who told him about the Chinese loans that Ecuador did not understand that China was interested in the territory as a guarantee.

Erazo explained that this “sovereign immunity” clause establishes that the borrower accepts that it and its other assets, which are not immune assets, are available for the proceeding (if the clause applies). The borrower cannot invoke the defense of his property that is not immune. As it was external public debt, all income supported this loan. In the ten analyzed works, there were five types of goods that would not be expropriated. Among them: assets corresponding to diplomatic activities, assets from military activities, unused resources, cultural heritage and other assets called protected assets.

Another finding was that there was participation of financial branches of the same bank. A conglomerate of syndicated banks participated in the financial diagram they made, and thus, obviously, these funds remained outside the country.

The obligation to contract with Chinese construction companies, as well as to contract with the state insurance company China Sure, is emphasized.

The names of 32 officials, headed by Jorge Glas, who participated in this credit structure were identified. Among the names that stand out in this structure are: Patricio Rivera Yánez, Fausto Herrera Nicolalde, René Ramírez Gallegos, William Vásconez Rubio, Diego García Carrión, Madeleine Abarca Runruil, Diego Martínez Vinueza, Esteban Albornoz Veintimilla, Fander Falconí Benítez and Andrés Arauz Galarza. However, they clarify that Jorge Glas as the coordinating minister has expressly appeared in the provisions. But they explained that the political boss is Rafael Correa. In this sense, Zurita says that this is why Rafael Correa was convicted of indirect authorship.

The book also refers to the role of the executive in Rafael Correa’s government in circumventing legal roadblocks, for example by implementing a series of reforms that allowed the debt ceiling to be breached above 40%. One of these mechanisms was to consider the pre-sale of oil and the resulting money innocent.

It was also possible to see how the formula created in the contracts with China for the sale of crude oil ended up benefiting the Chinese government and those who resold the crude oil, but not Ecuador.

Among the achievements of the work can also be counted the discovery that Ecuador’s credit conditions were stricter than those of other countries, such as Venezuela. In this sense, the panelists recalled that former President Rafael Correa mentioned that although there is a confidentiality clause so that the terms of the loan are not revealed, it is because they do not want other partners of China to have conflicts because the terms for Ecuador were better. The comment caused joy among those present. Among those present were journalists, politicians, trade union representatives and others.

At the event, it was also mentioned that Christian Zurita will return to journalism, after entering the political race for the seat of Villavicencio in the presidential candidacy.