Meet Diana Salazar, Ecuador's Attorney General 2:00

(CNN Spanish) -- Ecuador's Attorney General, Diana Salazar, received a death threat via a WhatsApp message on her cell phone, according to a statement from the country's Public Ministry.

The threatening message read: "Good day. You decide, doctor." And additionally, a video was sent with the threat to the prosecutor, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

"In recent hours, direct threats to the integrity of the highest authority of the State Attorney General's Office and his family have escalated. This institution rejects any attempt at intimidation that occurs due to the unrestricted fulfillment of the constitutional competences entrusted and reaffirms its commitment to work in a technical and objective manner, "said the statement of the Public Ministry

President Guillermo Lasso expressed solidarity with prosecutor Diana Salazar and repudiated the incident.

• Precautionary measures issued against former President Lenin Moreno and 36 others in Ecuador for alleged bribery

"Ecuadorians cannot tolerate that criminal groups and their terrorist acts threaten the life of a State authority and seek control of justice institutions. The state has to align itself in the democratic defense of institutions," the president wrote.

advertising

Interior Minister Juan Zapata reported that Salazar received the threat at dawn, and that the intelligence and protection teams of the prosecutor and her family were immediately activated.

In recent days, tensions have risen between Salazar, the Council of the Judiciary and the Council of Citizen Participation, institutions that have tried to initiate processes of appearances and sanctions against Salazar.

On Wednesday, in an interview with CNN affiliate FM Mundo, Salazar denounced attacks against him and said that those who seek impunity or are fugitives have clear interests in taking justice.

"The Ecuadorian Prosecutor's Office is under threat. These people commit illegalities and we will see how far they go (...) This is not a threat, this is an announcement: we were not afraid before and we will not be now," Salazar said.

The police reported that specialized units are working to cross information and find the authors of the threat against the prosecutor.

"We will not allow criminal acts to affect the action of justice," police said on Twitter.

Salazar took office in April 2019 after winning a merit and opposition contest held by the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control.

Before becoming attorney general, Salazar was part of the Financial Analysis Unit (UAFE) that investigated the Fifagate and Odebrecht cases in Ecuador.

After becoming Attorney General, he has led some emblematic cases for the country's justice system such as the Odebrecht corruption plot in Ecuador that achieved the conviction of former Vice President Jorge Glas for illicit association; the 2012-2016 Bribery Case in which former President Rafael Correa and other former officials of his government were convicted of bribery; the Synohidro Case, in which he prosecutes former President Lenin Moreno for alleged participation in the crime of bribery, an accusation that the former president has rejected.

Corruption