Sofía Eugenia Espín Reyes is an

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

ian politician. After she was dismissed from the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

she fled to Bolivia, where she applied for political asylum. Before this was resolved she was re-elected in May 2021. Espín was the president of the political coalition called

Union for Hope Union for Hope (, UNES) was a political coalition in Ecuador for the 2021 Ecuadorian general election. Political groups from the left-wing participated, with only the Democratic Center Movement being officially on the ballot, to sponsor the presi ...

Life

left, Press conference in September 2017 She was a delegate for the Citizen Revolution, but dismissed from the

in November 2018 with a majority of 94 votes. An investigation had noted that she visited Jessica Falcón, a person in prison who was involved with the kidnap of the politician

Fernando Balda Fernando Marcelo Balda Flores (born 3 August 1971) is an Ecuadorian politician. Politics Balda stated that he had been abducted in July 2012 in Bogotá, Colombia, to which he had fled because in 2009, he had dropped his support for the Ecuad ...

. This is an important case that involves the former President

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...

. It was said that she and lawyer, Yadira Cadena, made an offer of legal assistance, money and

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

, in Belgium, to Balda if she was willing to retract her evidence in the Balda case. Former President Correa fled to Belgium where he applied for political asylum while resisting Ecuador's claims for his extradition. Espín was required to present herself to the Provincial Court of Justice of Guayas every eight days, but before the end of 2018 she left the country for "health reasons". In January 2019 she was in Bolivia with former head of communications Carlos Ochoa. They were described as "fugitives from justice" and they both applied for political asylum in February. They said that President

Lenín Moreno Lenín Boltaire Moreno Garcés (; born 19 March 1953) is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the 46th president of Ecuador from 2017 to 2021. He was also vice president from 2007 to 2013, serving under President Rafael Correa. He was nominat ...

's administration was persecuting the two of them, although the Ecuadorian government assured the Bolivians that they were common criminals and there was no political motivation. At the time the Bolivian government said that they would make a decision within four months, but a decision was never published. In April 2020 she was said to be in exile with Correa in Mexico. She had travelled overland from Bolivia to Lima where she then caught a plane for Mexico in November. Espín was re-elected to the National Assembly in 2021. She retook her seat on 14 May. She resigned from her position as president of

(UNES) and was replaced by

Paola Cabezas Janeth Paola Cabezas Castillo (born 4 September 1978) is an Ecuadorian politician and former television presenter. She was the Governor of Esmeraldas Province from 2013 to 2016 and is a current member of Ecuador's National Assembly for the Citi ...

. In November 2021 she was one of the politicians who abstained which allowed the Economic Development and Fiscal Sustainability Law to be passed. She also proposed, in the National Assembly, that 15 November should be set aside as a day to remember worker's struggle on the anniversary of the

1922 Guayaquil general strike The 1922 Guayaquil general strike was a three-day general work stoppage in the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, which lasted from 13 to 15 November of that year. The strike began with trolley, electric company and other public utility workers who we ...

and massacre. In June 2022 she was among the members who requested a debate concerning the replacement of President

Guillermo Lasso Guillermo Alberto Santiago Lasso Mendoza (; born 16 November 1955) is an Ecuadorian businessman, banker and politician who served as the 47th president of Ecuador from 2021 to 2023. He was the country's first conservative president in nearly tw ...

because of his alleged mismanagement. 46 other members signed the request including Vanessa Álava, Mónica Palacios, Jhajaira Urresta, Patricia Mendoza, Victoria Desintonio, Viviana Veloz and Rosa Mayorga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Espin, Sofia Living people Members of the National Assembly (Ecuador) Women members of the National Assembly (Ecuador) 21st-century Ecuadorian politicians 21st-century Ecuadorian women politicians Year of birth missing (living people)