{
  "id": 17292875,
  "title": "Ecuador Party Drops Mayor Over Gang Tape",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/ecuador-party-drops-mayor-over-gang-tape",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-30T21:23:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Rio Times",
    "slug": "the-rio-times",
    "url": "https://www.riotimesonline.com/ecuador-party-drops-naranjal-mayor-gang-recording-2026/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ecuador’s governing party, Acción Democrática Nacional (ADN), withdrew its support from Juan Carlos Rivera, the mayor of Naranjal, following a recording that appeared to show Rivera claiming a criminal family controls his town hall. The party, led by President Daniel Noboa, stated that it would not back Rivera and initiated the process to remove him from the party under its ethics manual. The recording, published by journalist Andersson Boscán, suggested that Rivera is at the mercy of brothers who control organized crime in the area, specifically the Ochoa brothers, who are allegedly allied with the Ecuadorian criminal gang Los Lobos. ADN emphasized that it does not cover up for anyone and called for further investigation. Rivera, who has been mayor since 2023 and is ADN’s candidate for re-election, responded on social media, calling the accusations a dirty campaign and denying that the voice in the recording is his. No prosecutor has announced a case against him as of Friday evening. The incident highlights the deep reach of drug gangs into local government in Ecuador, a country that is a major cocaine transit route and a close security partner of the United States. Voters will choose mayors and other local officials on Sunday, 29 November 2026, and a scandal involving the governing party ahead of the election could impact its strategy outside major cities. The authenticity of the recording has not been verified, and it remains unclear who made it. If a case is opened by prosecutors, it will determine whether Rivera will still be able to run for re-election.",
  "summary": "Ecuador's governing party ADN dropped Naranjal mayor Juan Carlos Rivera on 29 October 2026 after a recording tied his town hall to a gang. The post Ecuador Party Drops Mayor Over Gang Tape appeared first on The Rio Times .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}