Ecuador's Correa Attacked by police

[Graalsword]

_http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11447519

Ecuador declares state of emergency amid 'coup attempt'

Mr Correa was forced to flee a protest when tear gas was fired

A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador after President Rafael Correa accused the opposition and security forces of a coup attempt.

Mr Correa was taken to hospital after being hit by tear gas at a protest. Later reports spoke of fresh violence outside as he was being treated.

Troops also took over Quito's airport, forcing it to close for hours. Unrest has been reported across the country.

The protesters are angry at a new law that cuts benefits for public servants.

In other developments on Thursday:

* Police officers erect road blocks in Quito, Guayaquil and Cuenca. Several government buildings are occupied
* Looting is reported in the capital and Guayaquil. Banks are robbed, while schools and businesses close due to the lack of security
* The head of the armed forces declares its loyalty to the president
* Venezuela's president claims Mr Correa is "in danger of being killed"
* Peru and Colombia close their borders with Ecuador in solidarity.

The dramatic events began on Thursday morning, when members of the armed forces and police angry at the austerity measures occupied several barracks and set up road blocks across the country to demand the austerity measures be abandoned by the government.

Television stations showed images of police setting tyres on fire in the streets of Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. The National Assembly building was also occupied.

In a speech to soldiers from Quito's main barracks, President Correa said: "If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill him, if you want to. Kill him if you are brave enough.

"If you want to seize the barracks, if you want to leave citizens undefended, if you want to betray the mission of the police force, go ahead. But this government will do what has to be done. This president will not take a step back."

However, Mr Correa was forced to flee the barracks wearing a gas mask shortly afterwards when tear gas was fired by the protesters.

The president was later treated for the effects of the gas at a police hospital, from where he told local media that he had been "attacked".

"They threw tear gas at us. One exploded near my face. It stunned me and my wife for a few seconds, probably minutes," he said. "I had to put on a gas mask and some cowards took it off me so I would suffocate.

"I mean they shot at the president - it's incredible - our security forces, our national police."

"It is a coup attempt led by the opposition and certain sections of the armed forces and the police," he added. "Whatever happens to me I want to express my love for my family and my homeland."

He blamed the Patriotic Society Party (PSP), led by Lucio Gutierrez, for fomenting the unrest, and said "all bad elements" in the police force would "be removed".
'Kidnapped'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez later reported that Mr Correa had told him by telephone from the hospital "that once he had left he would be very happy to receive [the protesters], but that they had kidnapped him, and he would not give in to blackmail".

"They are trying to oust President Correa. Wake up the people of the Bolivarian Alliance! Wake up the people of Unasur [Union of South American Nations]! Viva Correa!," Mr Chavez wrote in a message on Twitter.

Police later fired tear gas at supporters of the president who tried to break up their protest at the hospital, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, about 300 air force personnel and soldiers took control of the runway at Quito's Mariscal Sucre International Airport, causing flights to be grounded. The airport later re-opened, the mayor of Quito told reporters.

The protesters were carrying signs demanding the government give more respect to the military over benefits, witnesses said.

The US embassy said Guayaquil's airport was also closed and warned US citizens to "stay in their homes or current location, if safe".

Despite the unrest, the head of Armed Forces Joint Command, Gen Luis Ernesto Gonzalez Villarreal, said the troops remained loyal.

"We live in a state which is governed by laws, and we are subordinate to the highest authority which is the president of the republic," he said.

"We will take whatever appropriate action the government decides on."

Looting

The country's central bank chief, Diego Borja, meanwhile urged its citizens not to withdraw money from banks amid reports of looting. Many schools and business were also closed because of the unrest.

A BBC News website reader in Guayaquil, Andrea M, said: "Thieves have taken advantage of this situation, and started attacking people in the streets. Now, most people are at their homes, waiting to see what happens with the government."

Several leaders in the region expressed their support for Mr Correa, as did the Organisation of American States (OAS). Its Secretary-General Miguel Insulza called the situation "a coup d'etat in the making".

Peruvian President Alan Garcia meanwhile ordered his nation's border with Ecuador closed until Mr Correa's "democratic authority" was re-established. Colombia's leader Juan Manuel Santos also followed suit.

The US said it was "closely monitoring" the situation and gave its backing to Mr Correa, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was deeply concerned for the president, calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

On Wednesday, one minister said President Correa was considering disbanding Congress because members of his Country Alliance had threatened to block proposals to shrink the bureaucracy.

Ecuador's two-year-old constitution allows the president declare an impasse and rule by decree until new elections. However, such a move would have to be approved by the Constitutional Court.

Ecuador has a history of political instability. Protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the decade before Mr Correa, a 47-year-old US-trained economist, took power in 2007.

He was re-elected to a second termin 2009 despite his decision to default on $3.2bn of global bonds causing widespread fiscal problems for the government. Mr Correa declared the debt "illegitimate".

Other takes of the same news:

_http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/2010101035447872.html

_http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2010/0930/Ecuador-coup-attempt-President-Rafael-Correa-attacked-in-police-revolt

_http://prensacubana.e-datalink.net/correa-tackles-insubordination-of-1000-police-2/

 

[LQB]

A followup from some expats down there:

_http://blog.pro-ecuador.com/?p=2452

Part I: The Mini-Microcosmic View

First of a three part series. Tomorrow, the Microcosmic View. Monday, the Macrocosmic View

By Linda McFarlin

A dramatic event is unfolding in Ecuador. On Thursday, Oct. 1, President Correa stepped out onto the balcony of the presidential palace in Quito’s historic district to personally address angry police who refused to accept his pay cuts. He was pelted with water and insults. The situation deteriorated further as the day wore on.

I watched some of the action on television as it was occurring in Quito. While eating lunch in a Cotacachi restaurant the Ecuadorian owner meekly asked if we minded if she turned on the television because, “Something important is happening in my country.”

At the same time, I also was witness to a heated debate between this mestizo restaurant owner, who considers herself poor and a Correa fan, and an expat from Rwanda. The Rwandan is from a wealthy family and she eyes Correa with distrust. She correlates his actions with those of Chavez of Venezuela.

Although the Rwandan woman and her family migrated to Ecuador years ago, her parents now live in Venezuela. They want to return to Ecuador to reside but have been unable to afford to leave Venezuela. They would have to abandon any funds they have accumulated there because the government of Venezuela will not allow them to exchange their Venezuelan money for any other currency.

She sees Correa as a wily leader who is replicating Chavez’s tactics for winning over the poor with social programs in order to use them to gain control of the country. “He’s giving $5,000 free bonuses to the poor to buy houses,” the Rwandan explained passionately to her listeners. “Somebody has to pay for that. Where do you think the money is coming from?”

The social program issue is pretty much at the heart of what happened with the restaurant owner and her support for the president.

When a relative with cancer had no money to pay for her $18,000 treatment, the family was surprised that the government paid the bill for her, even though she was in a private hospital. Now she and the restaurant proprietress are loyal supporters of Correa’s presidency.

Yet in her support she is also pragmatic. Waving one arm back and forth, she told us that Correa is like everyone else in this world. He has both good and bad qualities.

“You take some bad with the good,” she reminded us, “but you have to remain diligent to what is being said and to what is really happening behind the words.”

Over her shoulder I watched Correa on television on a balcony as he angrily wrenched his tie loose and ripped open his shirt before the police and accompanying mob. Protesting police milled about, shouting and dowsing tires with gasoline before setting them ablaze.

Later news reports said that by laying bare his chest, Correa had been showing the protesters that he wasn’t wearing a bullet-proof vest. “You want to kill me, go ahead and kill me!” he shouted to them. “ I leave here as president or they take me out as a corpse!”

Instead rioters later threw water on him, pushed him around and then tear-gassed him. He was reportedly held captive by police for several hours in a Quito police hospital before he was rescued by military forces. Some watching Ecuadorian television and other observers question that he was captured, kidnapped or held against his will.

You can watch this video of Correa tearing off his tie and being tear-gassed.

This morning I asked a cab driver for his opinion of Correa. He is a strong supporter of the Ecuadorian president. He smiled as he reminded me of the string of former corrupt presidents who only lined their own pockets with cash instead of instigating any lasting social programs that benefited the people.

The people of Ecuador ousted three of these leaders in quick succession and now have a president who is the only one in over a decade to have been voted in for a second term.

“He works for the people and has a good heart,” said the cabbie, a black man who works seven days a week to feed his family.

“There is still corruption in Ecuador. Oil companies and mining companies from other countries take out huge profits and the people never see any of the money. Correa sometimes says one thing and does another, but I believe he is trying to help us. He has a very hard job and it is not easy for him to change things.”

This tends to be the reply we get when we question the common people. However, when we discuss the Correa presidency with people of wealth, the answers are often intense and opinionated. They do not like him and think he is ruining the country.

He is one of the few presidents in the history of Ecuador who’s taken strong and visible steps to assist the poor. The concept is new to everyone. The big debate is whether he is sincere or simply using populism as a road to securing total power and control. The jury is still out.

By 11 p.m. Thursday night, the drama was over. The airport was reopened and the country pretty much returned to normal. The chief of the national police force was fired on Friday and most of the police returned to work.

Tomorrow, read about the impact on expats, more news reports, and speculations of a coup attempt, plus much more.

 

[LQB]

Part II

Part II: Ecuador Protests: The Microcosmic View

By Linda McFarlin

Don’t miss tomorrow’s column: The Macrocosmic View: Europe is Burning. You may widen your perspective considerably.

By bedtime Thursday night the police vs the president drama seemed to be just another chaotic event in Ecuador, and quite short-lived compared to other protests we’ve experienced since moving to Ecuador. It was just one of a number we have been peripherally involved with as expats in Ecuador, with the exception that the president had supposedly been tear-gassed, kidnapped, then saved by the military.

The Violence Wasn’t Country-Wide

Here in Cotacachi all was fairly tranquilo. People gathered around televisions to watch the news as it played out in Quito and Guayaquil. In both cities a few grocery stores, pharmacies and other buildings were looted within plain sight of film crews. Two banks were reportedly robbed. Banks and some schools were closed. But as one commentator mentioned, robberies are common in Guayaquil, so he didn’t see it as anything out of the ordinary.

A national strike was announced by the police and they blocked some roads, but it doesn’t seem to have been very extensive in much of the country.

Some portions of the military were protesting the new pay proposals, too. The Quito airport was shut down by the Ecuadorian Air Force for several hours. One of our employees had intended to go to the Quito airport Friday to meet a friend arriving from Holland and he was wondering if the airport would be open by then. It was back in full swing and he picked up his friend.

We went about our business, keeping an eye and an ear toward the newscasts and local gossip. Other than having an expat woman anxiously ask me if I realized that Ecuador was at war, there wasn’t a whole lot of upset here in town. Later I realized what she meant when I heard that there had been an attempted coup.

Genuine Coup or Camouflaged Creation by the Government?

While talking to others, I heard that Correa was calling the insurrection an attempted coup and blaming Lucio Gutierrez, a former president, as the main instigator who was urging police to riot.

Other news reports claimed that Correa had been obliquely blaming others for the riots all day without specifically naming names but that his foreigner minister was directly blaming Gutierrez.
(This link has been removed from MSN and a different article substituted for it.)

I had heard some chanting as I watched the news live from the presidential palace Thursday but I didn’t know what was being said. Locals told me that the rioting police and their supporters were repeating the name of Gutierrez, whom they still support for president and this angered Correa. This may have contributed to his claim that the presidency was at risk of being overthrown.

However, Andres Ochoa, a researcher at the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs, stated in Quito that, “There is no clear leader trying to topple Correa. This is a protest gone wrong.” He feels that Correa is simply trying to build support among his allies.

(Interesting note: If you click on the article above, the URL will morph into a completely different article from Businessweek with a different title. The information I am quoting is no longer there, nor can I find the previous article. I Googled – “Businessweek Correa vows to purge” and found a whole string of sites about the article, but the actual article is gone, replaced by a new article that stresses the coup attempt and Chavez’ strong words about it. The same thing happened for another article. The info I quote has been changed or updated. Curious. Anybody know what that is all about?)

Whether or not gaining the attention and support of his allies was one of Correa’s goals, it worked for him. In a show of solidarity for Correa, both Colombia and Peru closed their borders. The U.S. issued statements of support for Correa.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a 10-minute phone conversation with Correa shortly after the event.

The idea may have further merit as well, since an emergency meeting of USASUR, a developing union of South American countries, was called by Evo Morales, Bolivia’s leftist president. The group met Friday in Buenos Aires.

Is This Event Being Blown Out of Proportion and If So, For What Reason?

On Friday, the whole affair seemed to have been pumped up with inflammatory rhetoric and accusations, true or not. There were some blaring internet headlines. Correa is quoted as saying, “They wanted blood. They wanted deaths.” Eight people including some policemen reportedly died in clashes with the military.

As I began to check out the reality in Quito, an expat friend there reported that Friday was just a normal day except for some gun-toting, uniformed army guards who are checking cars and cabs on the streets. She lives in northern Quito at the other end of the city from Old Town where the presidential palace is located.

According to my friend, television stations such as CNN are reporting as if from, “a different world.” She and her husband watched live Ecuadorian television reportage of events from the presidential palace yesterday. What they heard and saw is very different from non-Ecuadorian news reports.

She and her husband were driving in Quito from 11 to 1 p.m. Friday, going to grocery stores and their usual haunts. They found some stores and banks closed and saw only one small, calm demonstration in favor of Correa, with about 15 to 20 people.

She has a rental unit in Old Town Quito only a few blocks from the presidential palace. When she called her renters to get their perspective on events, they didn’t even know there was a strike. For them it was a quiet day, only one store closed. While there were lots of people out on the streets, they didn’t hear anything or observe any violence and thought it was just another festival.

She also talked to a real estate agent in Old Town who walked down to Plaza Grande from Calle Montufar around 6 p.m. Friday. He said that there were people in the Plaza but that all was quiet. He saw nothing going on at all.

People on the road outside Quito around 2 or 3 pm. reported one road closed but others open. They had no difficulties at all returning to the city.

Watching Ecuadorian television, my friend saw Correa leave the presidential palace to meet with police at their headquarters. Following a verbal confrontation between Correa and a few police in the crowd, he was physically accosted and a tear gas grenade went off near him. She wasn’t sure exactly who took him to the police hospital for treatment, but there was shooting at the hospital between men in different uniforms.

News sources say Correa was taken to the hospital by his security guards. Members of the army tried to get to the hospital room where the president was recovering in order to rescue him from policemen who had surrounded the hospital and who were trying to get to Correa. The president gave an interview from the hospital and was then rescued by the army after a shoot-out.

They took Correa back to the presidential palace where he delivered a speech from the balcony. He blamed Gutierrez, saying that he recognized Gutierrez supporters in the crowds. Gutierrez was reportedly in Brazil at this time.

Correa stated that he will not negotiate with the police. He said that the administration has treated them very well and they don’t appreciate it. He called the police demonstrators cowards and said that he will neither forgive nor forget what they have done.

Watch this video of the rioting in Quito- Ecuador’s Rescued President: “Let This be a Lesson”

Here are photos of the police protest – “Ecuador Unrest.”

Here’s another expat’s take on what is happening: “I watched much of the demonstration on Ecuador television. It was said that some of the police who were rioting never even read the new proposal and were simply following the others “like donkeys.

“A camera man was struck by a rubber bullet and passed out, then kept filming. He reported that he felt much of what was going on was make-believe.

“In the middle of shooting at the hospital where Correa was taken after being gassed, a car arrived, driving through a hail of bullets to escort the president out of the hospital. The military seemed to have no strategy at all and were running here and there. Usually the military are much more organized than this. I found this all kind of suspicious or at least odd.

“About ten minutes after Correa was out and safe, he gave a speech, seemingly not too upset by events of the day.
The whole balcony was filled with press, not good security or protection for him at all. He could have been shot.”

The National Police chief resigned on Friday and was quickly replaced.

Strange Happenings at the Banks

Another bit of speculation is occurring among the Russian community in Quito. Some Russians think that this could all be a manipulated event. A number of them are in the lucrative flower business, arranging shipments of Ecuadorian roses and other flowers to Russia. They say that something strange has been occurring for the past week.

Financial transactions from Russia are not being completed through Ecuadorian banks. Either the money is being bounced back to Russia or the Ecuadorian banks don’t accept the money. Or perhaps the money is accepted but not being posted. This is causing much concern among the Russian community in Quito.

So some Russians in Quito surmise that this whole affair was created and that the banks knew about it. The banks in Ecuador were closed Thursday, but most were re-opened Friday.

As we all ponder what is really going on in Ecuador, as seen on television, reported on the internet and speculated behind the scenes, keep in mind that there are a great many things going on in the world today that are not what they seem on the surface.

Each of us can stop taking things at face value alone. We can dig deeper, research more, widen our perspectives and then use our intuition as well as our intellect to make informed decisions.

As a footnote, my son Scott called me from the states today. “What’s going on down there in Ecuador, Mom? They’re making a big deal of it here in the states.”

Our friend Daren from Vilcabamba in the south of Ecuador wrote this: “Vilcabamba, the valley in which I live was unaffected by the unrest…… remaining tranquil and peaceful place that it is. The issues that were a problem are now resolved and life is normal in Ecuador.

“Since my girlfriend lives a 5-minute walk away from the Presidential Palace, I have a pretty good source as to what is happening and all things look very stable as of now. My opinion, this is just a little practice drill for things that are coming on the global level.”

This is a good lead-in for part 3 in the series tomorrow: The Macrocosmic View: Europe is Burning . Check out this quote from tomorrow’s column:
“Mad-as-hell people all over the world have finally had enough and are hell-bent upon taking back their rights and their powers as citizens of their countries. They are exercising their democratic authority lest they lose it once and for all in a world-wide plunge into One World Governmental control.”
Right or wrong, our world is changing dramatically.