Mr Correa had reason to feel aggrieved at this slur. But he rejected an offer by El Universo to publish a rebuttal. His choice of remedy has cast a chill over Ecuador’s independent media. The president attended the court in person. A small crowd of his supporters pelted the defendants and their lawyers with eggs and bottles outside the courthouse. The media were barred from the hearing.

The defendants have appealed, and are seeking to have the case annulled on procedural grounds. (The sentences will not be implemented until after the appeal.) They say the damages would almost bankrupt El Universo.

Mr Correa hailed the verdict as ending a “reign of terror” by the media, though he also said he would appeal, seeking the full $80m in damages he originally claimed. He insists he wants justice, not money, and will donate the damages to an environmental scheme. (He spent half the $600,000 from Banco Pichincha—on which the tax office did not ask him to pay income tax—on a flat in Belgium.)

Ecuador’s independent media has fallen into the trap of acting as a political opposition to Mr Correa, a popular and powerful president. But Mr Correa has shown a disturbing intolerance of criticism. He is also suing the authors of a book about his elder brother’s business dealings with the government. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said the ruling against El Universo was “contrary to regional freedom-of-expression standards” and would result in self-censorship. The president may be elected, but he is doing his best to live up to Mr Palacio’s gibe that he is a dictator.