2024-07-04 08:49:26
INVESTIGATION
The Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) has launched an investigation against the union’s general secretary, Rosa Argudo, after confirming that at least five of her relatives work for the entity. The investigation was requested by the National Assembly and is being led by the president of the IESS, Eduardo Peña.
“We are conducting a specific investigation at the request of the National Assembly, especially the relatives of Mrs. Argudo,” Peña told PRIMICIAS. Peña, who has been in office for six months, said that old problems at the institute are being addressed, assuring that “we will resolve them.”
Rosa Argudo admitted to the Azuay assembly members on June 25, 2024 that three of her children and two of her nephews are employed at the IESS, arguing that they all entered through merit-based and competitive examinations. However, the assembly members mentioned six other names of alleged relatives, including a cousin and her son-in-law, who was provincial director of Azuay for five months during the previous Government. Argudo claimed not to know these relatives and stressed that her family does not discuss work issues at home.
The accusations do not end there. One of Argudo’s daughters, Lourdes Terreros, is the owner of JPP Vending Company, a company that provides snack vending machines at the José Carrasco Arteaga hospital. Argudo acknowledged that Terreros is his daughter, but claimed to be unaware of the existence of the company and its contracts with the IESS. This case led the provincial director of the IESS of Azuay, Esteban Villa, to file a complaint with the Prosecutor’s Office on June 24.
Another irregularity reported by the former manager of the José Carrasco Arteaga hospital, Soraya Puertas, is that one of Argudo’s sons works as a clinical psychologist, although he joined the IESS as a pharmacy assistant. This scandal emerges at a critical time, since the Ministry of Labor has ordered the review of public sector collective contracts. Eduardo Peña, president of the IESS Board of Directors, criticized the privileges of the “golden union bureaucracy” and suggested that it is necessary to review these benefits in times of crisis.
Rosa Argudo, with 36 years of service at the IESS and 21 years as general secretary of the union, is in her fifth term of office, all of them won by vote. Amidst these accusations, Argudo maintains her defense, insisting on the legality of her relatives’ income to the IESS and her ignorance of any business irregularities related to her daughter.