Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso announced Saturday that he has accepted the resignation of Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguin, who has been in the post since the conservative former banker took power in May 2021.

“I admire the work done by Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguín and I regret his resignation,” was Mr Lasso’s reaction via Twitter.

He added that he will be replaced by Gustavo Manrique, as the Minister of Environment until yesterday. He did not announce who will succeed the latter.

Earlier yesterday, Mr Holguin submitted a letter of resignation to Mr Lasso citing “personal reasons”.

“Thank you to President Guillermo Lasso (…) for giving me the opportunity to serve in his government. It was not easy, but I am sure that for the country and for his presidency, which must be respected, this is the right decision,” he said above the letter he uploaded to Twitter.

He welcomed the “appropriate appointment” of Mr. Manrique to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Holguin resigned amid the trial and possible suspension of President Lasso from parliament, initiated by the opposition accusing him of misuse of public funds and corruption.

The 67-year-old head of state characterizes this procedure, approved by the Constitutional Court, as an “attempt to destabilize”.

The opposition had already tried to unseat Mr Lasso in 2022, but failed to unite and secure the required number of votes.

Last June, in the midst of mass mobilizations by indigenous organizations due to the skyrocketing cost of living, a group of parliamentarians initiated a process to suspend the right-wing president, but was unable to secure the required majority of 92 votes—parliament has 137 seats—which is required by the Constitution.