The return of Serrano again highlights the judicial system and the rule of law of Ecuador
Originally published in Global Voices in Spanish
Screenshot from YouTube video "José Serrano enters the Encounter prison after being deported from the United States" TVC News. legitimate use.
After the U.S. immigration system refused to give political asylum to the former Minister of the Interior of Ecuador José Serrano Salgadohis deportation to Ecuador was made with the strictest security measures.
Serrano faces several investigations initiated by the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Ecuador in relation to his post as a government official during the period of the former President Rafael Correaand for his alleged participation as the mastermind behind the murder of journalist and former presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio. In the latter case, at the request of the prosecution, the judges ordered to stop him before the trial and to be transferred to the prison The Encounter (officially called St. Helena detention centre 1) in the coastal province of Saint Helena.
On August 7, 2025, Serrano was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Control Service (better known as ICE) in the United States for a migration offence for longer than authorized. He was first arrested in Miami, then in an immigrant detention centre in Mississippi until August 28, 2026.
Serrano entered the United States in May 2021 when he finished his term as a legislator. That same year, he applied for political asylum in the United States. On May 13, 2026, Judge Romy Lerner denied his application for asylumbut granted it protection within the framework of the Convention against Torture, delayed his return to Ecuador.
However, an investigation into The New York Times, published on August 16, 2026, reports on the political environment involving the United States Government and its allies. The report states that the deportation of Serrano occurred barely 15 minutes later of high-level meetings between the US administration and Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa.
According to The New York Times, only a quarter of an hour after the take-off of the charter aircraft that took Serrano to Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa announced in his X account of Serrano's arrival on Ecuadorian soil. The photos show ICE agents escorting him with his hands and feet handcuffed, and upon his arrival in Ecuador he was see using a bulletproof vest and a helmet.
Who is José Serrano?
Serrano has held several public posts in Ecuador during and after the Correa government. He served as Minister of the Interior between 2011 and 2016. As early as 2009 he was Secretary of Transparency, and in 2010 he assumed the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Worship.
During his tenure as Minister of the Interior, there were significant achievements such as the comprehensive restructuring of the police system, which included the creation of forensic laboratories for the police, and improvements to patrol cars and community police units and community surveillance units.
His work against drug trafficking was particularly significant, and on June 6, 2016, he was decorated by the Drug Control Administration (better known as DEA) and the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, in recognition of their struggle. However, its period was marked by the procurement dispute related, inter alia, to emergency contracts, acquisition of horses and dogs, renovation of police facilities, police uniforms and cleaning services.
In the general elections of Ecuador in 2017, he was the most voted assembly. As a result, he held the post of President of the National Legislative Assembly until 9 March 2018, when dismissed after an audio was leaked between Serrano and the excontralor Carlos Politwho was a fugitive from justice by Odebrecht case. This exposed the political manipulation of the Ecuadorian justice system.
After completing its legislative period (2017-2021), he left public life and went to the United States, where he applied for political asylum in immigration courts with the argument of political persecution and risk to his life.
Criminal investigations in Ecuador
Serrano's return to his country opens a new chapter in a career marked by several criminal investigations. The prosecution is processing cases related to different cases:: his alleged involvement in the murder of Villavicencio; complaints of trafficking in influences and bribes linked to revelations that arose during the proceedings against Pólit in the United States; allegations of attempted murder by counsel Luggi Garcíaanother on his alleged participation in the abduction of Fernando Balda in Colombia; and a 2019 complaint that held that he requested contributions of the salaries of officials of the Ministry of the Interior.
The case with the increased political impact is the alleged murder of Villavicencio. The prosecution maintains that it may have served as liaison and surveillance. Your defense rejects this hypothesis, says there is not enough evidence to link him to the murder, and claims that the prosecution depends mainly on the account of a protected witness.
After being held in El Encuentro on August 28, 2026, Serrano held in his X account that "he did not receive treatment compatible with the dignity of a human being" within the penitentiary, statement that his daughter Veronica repeated, that responsible to the Ecuadorian State for his father's life.
The Government's perspective
The return of Serrano soon took on a political dimension, the Noboa administration stated that his deportation and subsequent prison as part of the enforcement of court decisions. In announcing the arrival of Serrano, Noboa also issued a warning to the former Correa, and essentially said that his turn is coming.
For his part, Interior Minister John Reimberg, declared that "no one is above the law," and Minister Nathaly Morillo received the deportation of Serrano as a victory for the government, commented on his return and called it "one of the most sinister characters of the" looted decade, "and added" little by little, the truth continues to come out. "
Beyond political confrontation, the case raises a fundamental question: how far can the State go to prosecute serious crimes without weakening the guarantees it must recognize, even for those facing the most serious accusations? Serrano prison makes your case not only a test of the fight against impunity, but also a test of the effective enforcement of due process and the rule of law in Ecuador.
