Event Summary
On 30 December 2025, Galo Martínez Leisker, president of Granasa—the publishing company of the newspapers Expreso and Extra—made public a letter addressed to the Superintendent of Companies (the highest authority of the Superintendence of Companies, the Ecuadorian state body that regulates and registers share transfers). In the letter, Martínez denounces an alleged attempt by this institution, in coordination with the government of President Daniel Noboa, to take control of 40% of the company’s shares.
According to the letter, the Superintendence of Companies is seeking to reverse a share transfer carried out six years ago in favour of a company that is currently undergoing liquidation, arguing that it was not possible to establish the traceability of that transfer. Should this measure be formalised, 40% of the shares would pass into the hands of a temporary administrator appointed by this state institution.
This complaint emerges in the context of existing tensions between the newspapers Expreso and Extra and Daniel Noboa’s government, particularly involving Minister José Julio Neira, following the critical stance adopted by these media outlets toward the presidential administration. Martínez Leisker warns that, if the measure is executed, the national government could interfere with the editorial line of both newspapers.
National and international organisations, such as Fundamedios and the Inter American Press Association, have expressed their concern about these actions, considering that they could open the door to interference by the government of the day in independent media outlets.