Nuria Butiña

Butiña stood for election in the Guayas Province as a Citizen Revolution Movement candidate. She was elected to the National Assembly with Walter Javier Gomez Ronquillo as her alternate.^[1]

She was chosen to join the standing Commission for Food Sovereignty and Development of the Agricultural and Fisheries Sector. Janina Rizzo Alvear was the commission's President^[2] and the vice president was Juan Gonzaga Salazar and the other members of the commission include Besibell Mendoza and Lorena Rosado Sánchez.^[3]

The first vice president of the National Assembly, Mishel Mancheno, forwarded an accusation that Butiña had demanded a monthly payment from one of her former staff members. The accusation had the support of six members of the assembly and it was referred to the assembly's ethics committee.^[4]

During session 46 of the National Assembly, the Ethics Committee presented their report which included the recommendation that Nuria Butiña should be dismissed for receiving money.^[5] Manchero presented evidence including records of bank transfers and a parallel account for salaries. Butiña said that the accusation came from a disgruntled adviser who she had sacked. 101 votes were required for her to be ejected from the assembly and the proposal attracted only 81 votes.^[6]