National Intelligence Secretariat (''Secretaría Nacional de Inteligencia'', SENAIN) was the principal
intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objective ...
of the Republic of
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. The agency was created in September 2009. Directors include Rommy Vallejo, Francisco Jijón, Homero Arellano, Luis Yépez, Raúl Patiño (brother of
Ricardo Patiño
Ricardo Armando Patiño Aroca (born 16 May 1954) is an Ecuadorian politician who has served as Foreign minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador from 2010 until 2016, under the government of President Rafael Correa. Previously he was Mi ...
) and Pablo Romero Quezada.
In June 2013, news and entertainment website ''
BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...
'' published documents that revealed SENAIN's domestic surveillance program using equipment purchased from two Israel-based companies, Elkat Security Engineering Ltd and UVision Air Ltd. SENAIN reportedly purchased the equipment via an intermediary named Gabriel Marcos Guecelevich.
SENAIN was also involved in the
Hacking Team
HackingTeam was a Milan-based information technology company that sold offensive intrusion and surveillance capabilities to governments, law enforcement agencies and corporations. Its "''Remote Control Systems''" enable governments and corporatio ...
scandal.
Although
Paul Manafort
Paul John Manafort Jr. (; born April 1, 1949) is an American lobbyist, political consultant, and attorney. A long-time Republican Party campaign consultant, he chaired the Trump presidential campaign from June to August 2016. Manafort served ...
had not logged into the
Ecuadoran embassy in London, SENAIN had records of his visits in 2015 and March 2016, which SENAIN had recorded him as "Paul Manaford
ic, along with Russians.
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. WikiLeaks came to international attention in 2010 when it published a series of leaks provided by U.S. Army inte ...
, the founder of
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks () is an international Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous Source (journalism), sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activism, Internet acti ...
, was using the embassy as a refuge at the time.
The account of an Assange-Manafort meeting was not corroborated by other news organisations.
In March 2018, SENAIN was shut down by Ecuador's President,
Lenín Moreno
Lenín Voltaire Moreno Garcés (; born 19 March 1953) is an Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as ...
, who said closing the agency was necessary to “guarantee the security needs of the country”.
See also
*
List of intelligence agencies
This is a list of intelligence agencies by country. It includes only currently operational institutions.
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law e ...
References
External links
Official website
{{External national intelligence agencies
Intelligence agencies
Government of Ecuador