Ecuador promises press freedom

"In no way does the government intent to control or interfere with freedom of the press," said Economy Minister Wilma Salgado, whose department oversaw the seizure of properties allegedly linked to the Isaias family.

Salgado told Colombia's Caracol Radio that the government plans to sell the stations, as well as the other businesses, to raise money

for depositors who lost money in the collapse of the Filanbanco bank once controlled by William and Roberto Isaias, who fled to the United States and who face embezzlement charges in Ecuador.

TC Television, TC Noticias, Gamavision and TC Radio were confiscated on Tuesday by a branch of the Economy Ministry dedicated to recovering assets lots by depositors in the financial crisis of the later 1990s.

The TV stations are run by relatives of the fugitive bankers.

The outlets were not particularly critical of leftist President Rafael Correa's administration, but the action alarmed some broadcaster associations and government opponents.

The daily newspaper El Universo suggested in an editorial on Wednesday that the government wants to control the media before a constitutional referendum in September and the Uruguay-based International Association of Broadcasting said the measure "severely affects freedom of expression."

But Ecuador's National Journalists Federation bluntly disputed that. It said the station takeover involved "a strictly financial, business and legal conflict and has nothing to do with freedom of expression."

Salgado said that the business owners--many of whom have denied financial links to the fugitive bankers--can challenge the seizures in court.