Ecuador chief: Predecessor spied on him

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno angrily denounced his predecessor on Friday, accusing him of planting a hidden video camera in his office to spy on him remotely.

“Shocked and furious,” Moreno wrote in a message on Twitter to denounce the discovery of the device.

Later in a televised appearance from Guayaquil, he said the camera had been monitored remotely by former President Rafael Correa on his cellphone. He did not explain or provide any evidence to back the accusation.

Correa, who moved to Europe after handing off power to his handpicked successor in May, mocked the accusation on his Twitter account.

“Hidden camera run from my cellphone! If President Moreno proves this, then send me to prison. If not, then he should resign from the Presidency, not for being bad, but for being ridiculous. What a disgrace!”

Moreno said the existence of the camera was even more perplexing because every morning at 8 a.m. his security detail— which was never informed about the device — checks his office for bugs, meaning the device would’ve been activated remotely only after the daily scan was performed.

Correa helped elect Moreno this year. But the former allies have since grown estranged over Moreno’s less confrontational style and focus on corruption in the previous government, in which he served as vice president.

Moreno withdrew all powers from Vice President Jorge Glas, who is being investigated for allegedly taking bribes during Correa’s rule.

Glas has accused Moreno of betraying Correa’s legacy, but the president’s decision to break with his predecessor appears to be popular with Ecuadoreans, 84 percent of whom said they approve of his performance in a recent opinion poll.