Ecuador Rising - Hatarinchej

Suspected rebel officers jailed in Ecuador

2010-10-08T20:51:00.001+11:00

AFP QUITO — A judge ordered 14 police officers held in preventive detention as court proceedings began against the alleged perpetrators of a rebellion in Ecuador last week that President Rafael Correa called an attempted coup.

Also being held was Fidel Araujo, an ally of former president Lucio Gutierrez, whom Correa accused of inciting the uprising that left 10 dead and 274 wounded.

Among the officers ordered held was Rolando Tapia, head of the legislative security service.

A state of emergency which has allowed the military to take over functions of the police was set to end on Friday.

Arrest orders were issued earlier in the week against 46 police officers in connection with last week's rebellion, which plunged the South American nation into turmoil and prompted international support for the government.

Of those, 22 police officers have been released and another 11 remain at large.

Hundreds more are under investigation for participating in the revolt, prosecutors said.

Correa said Wednesday the state must seek punishment against the policemen "with all the firmness of the law," and told foreign reporters there would be "no forgiving or forgetting" of their actions. He added the group amounted to only a "few" officers in the force.

He also warned, however, that "the coup is not over" and said "it will be very difficult in the future to guarantee that the situation, maybe not on the same scale, won't happen again."

Hundreds of police officers rose up in revolt over a law that reduced their bonus pay. Correa was cornered in a police hospital for 12 hours, after his attempt to personally confronted rebellious officers in Quito backfired.

Correa, a leftist who denounced the uprising as a coup attempt, was rescued by loyal soldiers and police.

Top police officials were arrested or forced to resign, but the mass of the force remains in place.

The president earlier this week raised salaries of higher ranking military and police. Defense Minister Javier Ponce said the raises were unrelated to last week's turmoil, and had been due since 2008.

Social Movements to Go Ahead with Int'l Meetings Despite Crisis

2010-10-08T20:49:00.001+11:00

By Gonzalo Ortiz

QUITO, Oct 7, 2010 (IPS) - "What lies ahead in Colombia is an increase in the number of refugees and displaced persons, while in Guatemala and Mexico people are going to continue leaving their countries in difficult conditions in which they face dangers to their lives," said Nelsy Lizarazu, one of the spokespersons for the Fourth World Social Forum on Migration.

"The flow of people between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is not going to let up until conditions for people in Haiti improve, which does not look like it's going to happen," the Colombian expert added, in her summary of some of the most pressing concerns to be discussed at the meeting, which opens Friday in Quito.

Delegates from "some 650 organisations and more than 1,200 other people," have registered for the gathering, which will run through Tuesday, Oct. 12, and "will discuss the question of human mobility at a very complex moment for Latin America."

But this is not the only international meeting to be hosted by the Ecuadorian capital, which is still reeling from the events of Sept. 30, when President Rafael Correa was held captive for 11 hours by rioting police, and had to be rescued by loyal police and troops amid a hail of gunfire.

According to official figures, five people were killed and nearly 300 were injured over the course of the day, as the protesting security forces closed down airports and set up roadblocks, and thousands of people took to the streets in support of Correa. However, the media put the number of fatalities at 10.

A state of emergency will remain in force at least until Friday, and troops are patrolling the streets by foot and in vehicles mounted with machine guns.

Although several international meetings have been cancelled, including the 42nd period of sessions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that had been scheduled for Oct. 4-8, the Fourth World Social Forum on Migration "will go on as planned, and all of the organised events will take place," Paul Salas, in charge of media relations, told IPS.

Friday will also be the start, in Quito, of the fifth congress of the Latin American Coordination of Rural Organisations (CLOC)-Via Campesina, which will bring together 800 delegates from 18 countries, as well as 300 national representatives, Luis Andrango, CLOC secretary of operations and the president of Ecuador's National Confederation of Peasant, Indigenous and Black Organisations (FENOCIN), told IPS.

And on Wednesday night, the 10th International Indigenous Peoples' Film and Video Festival opened in the capital, with some 250 entries from the Americas and Europe to be shown through Monday, Oct. 11.

These three international meetings, and the Ecuadorian organisations and institutions that are organising them, plan to hold a march by members of social movements from all around the world on Tuesday.

More than 2,000 delegates from other countries will take part in the joint demonstration, as well as thousands of Ecuadorians, the organisers say.

"We have applied for the necessary permits, and we will be holding the march," Andrango told IPS.

One of the common issues held by the different groups participating in the march will be the integration of different peoples, "beyond the mere economic integration of nations," he said.

"An overlapping of the agendas of rural movements, indigenous nationalities, and people concerned about human mobility is only natural," and strengthens the different groups and people and their social development and organisational capability, Janeth Cuji, communications director for the powerful Ecuadorean Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), told IPS.

The Fourth World Social Forum on Migration will be held at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador and the CLOC-Via Campesina congress will be hosted by the Central University of Ecuador.

There will be four main themes in the seminars and panel discussions at the Fourth World Social Forum on Migration: "Global crises and migration flows", "Human rights and migration", "Diversity, coexistence and sociocultural transformations", and "New forms of slavery, servitude and human exploitation".

The opening conference will be given by Stephen Castles, a British sociologist who is one of the most prominent scholars on international migration.

The other keynote speakers will be Mexican activist Rufino Domínguez Santos, director of the Binational Centre for Oaxacan Indigenous Development, and Professor of International Relations Aurora Javate de Dios, director of the Migration Studies Department at Miriam College in the Philippines.

Presentations on "Global crises and migration flows" will be given by Alberto Acosta, the former president of the constituent assembly that drafted Ecuador's new constitution and a professor in economics at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences; Victor Nzuzi-Mbembe, a farmer from the Democratic Republic of Congo and social activist with Via Campesina, the global peasant movement; and Brazilian sociologist and philosopher Ivo Poleto, head of the Brazilian Forum on Climate Change.

On Saturday, the main speakers on the theme of "Human rights and migration" will be Abdelhamid El Jamri from Morocco, the chair of the United Nations Committee on Migrant Workers; Hana Cheikh Ali, a Palestinian lawyer with the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid; and Sara Prestianni from Italy, the head of the Migreurop Euro-African network.

"Diversity, coexistence and sociocultural transformations" will be the focus of presentations by U.S. labour and racial justice activist William Fletcher; Luis Macas, an indigenous leader of Ecuador who was formerly president of CONAIE and is the founder of the Intercultural University of Indigenous Peoples; and Bela Feldman, director of the Centre of International Migration Studies at the University of Campinhas in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"New forms of slavery, servitude and human exploitation" will be addressed by Bandana Pattanaik of Thailand, the international coordinator of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women; Priscila González, head of the National Domestic Workers Alliance in the United States; Eve Geddie of Belgium, a representative of the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants; and Alberto Soteres, director of Save the Children Spain.

In Latin America, "the smuggling and trafficking of persons is closely intertwined with drug trafficking, which makes migration even riskier -- and the dangers will only grow in the immediate future," said Lizarazu.

"The war on drug trafficking has not worked in either Mexico or Colombia," she said. "Drug trafficking is still going strong, and has penetrated the fabric of societies, and only through the mobilisation and socioeconomic development of society itself will it be possible to extirpate it."

The Fourth World Social Forum on Migration forms part of a series of events held this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the World Social Forum.

Andrango, meanwhile, said they were expecting Bolivian President Evo Morales to make an appearance at the CLOC-Via Campesina conference on Tuesday. Morales, an Aymara Indian, is a leader of Bolivia's coca farmers. (END)

SOA Graduate Involved in Coup Attempt in Ecuador

2010-10-08T20:45:00.000+11:00

Written by Lisa Sullivan

A School of the Americas graduate has been charged for last Thursday's unsuccessful coup attempt in Ecuador. Colonel Manuel E. Rivadeneira Tello, a graduate of the SOA's combat arms training course, is one of three police officials being investigated for negligence, rebellion and attempted assassination of the president.

Rivadeneira was the commander of the barracks where President Correa was attacked by protesting police. The injured Correa was taken to a police hospital were he held hostage by police who threatened to kill him if he escaped. After 12 hours, 500 elite forces stormed the hospital and organized a fiery rescue. By the end of the day 4 people lay dead and over 200 wounded.

This is the second coup attempt led by SOA graduates in a little over a year. The June 2009 in Honduras led by SOA graduates General Vasquez Velasquez and General Prince Suazo was successful in overthrowing President Manuel Zelaya. At the time, President Correa expressed concern that this opened the possibility of future coups in the continent acknowledging that he might be a possible target..

The defense of Ecuador's democracy was achieved by its citizens, who poured into the streets in defense of their popular president. Their voices were joined by an international chorus of support for Correa, including the OAS, UNASUR and Secretary of State Clinton. Ecuadorians, however, were not convinced that the U.S. was an innocent bystander. A poll indicated that over 50% of Ecuadorians felt that the U.S. had some involvement in the coup based, perhaps, on experience in their country where evidence has pointed to past U.S. involvement in coups and presidential deaths.

Both presidents of Honduras and Ecuador had recently challenged the use of their military bases by the U.S. military. President Correa ended a lease to the US to use it's Manta base in 2009, and President Zelaya had indicated his support for turning the Palmerola base used by the US into a civilian airport shortly before he was deposed. Likewise, both countries were members of ALBA (the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas) when the coups were attempted. A third ALBA country, Venezuela, was the target of the third Latin American coup of the past decade, in 2002, also led by SOA graduates.

The Alleged Coup d’Etat, Democracy, and the Indigenous Organizations

2010-10-08T20:42:00.000+11:00

By Marlon Santi

President, CONAIE

We, the Federation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE, in its Spanish initials) and the Pachakutik Bloc, in response to the events of September 30, 2010, and the claims made in recent days about the alleged support by USAID-NED to indigenous organizations, standing firmly on our historic process of bringing about a true Pluri-national State, announce:

The struggle of the peoples and nationalities is not an individual one, rather, it corresponds to the collective dream of constructing a diverse country, inclusive of the diverse popular and social organized sectors that seek a real change to end the old neoliberal, exploitative structures and the decolonization of the institutions of the State. We seek a pluri-national democracy, respectful of the rights of individuals, of collective organizations and of nature.

We energetically announce that there never was any attempted coup d’etat, much less a kidnapping, but an event that responded to the uncertain political management of the government that causes popular discontent through permanent aggression, discrimination and violations of human rights consecrated in the Constitution.

We do not recognize this dictatorial “democracy” because of its lack of freedom of speech, the kidnapping of all the powers of the state by the executive branch in its political system of one government, that does not generate spaces to debate the projects, and laws elaborated from the indigenous movement and other social sectors.

We categorically refute claims that the CONAIE, the Pachakutik Political Movement, the peoples and nationalities have any relationship at all with the organism known as USAID, previously NED, not today nor ever. To the contrary, we know that this organization finances the “social programs” of this government like the forest partnership and that, yes, is condemnable.

We demand the constitutional suspension of the National Congress for its failure to comply with the constitutional mandate that it legislate much less audit as it is well known that all laws are approved by the president’s legal minister.

We condemn the usurpation of press freedom when on September 30 all media not allied with the government was forced to broadcast government news in “cadena nacional,” a means by which all access to information is controlled and manipulated with a version of the facts that does not inform about the real dimensions of the situation on that day in the country.

Quito, Ecuador, October 6, 2010

Government of the Peoples and Nationalities,

Marlon Santi

President, CONAIE

Dozens Arrested in Ecuador Police Revolt

2010-10-07T20:16:00.000+11:00

QUITO – Ecuadorian police have detained almost 50 people for their alleged role in last week’s violent uprising by disgruntled cops, the first large-scale arrests in the wake of what President Rafael Correa labeled an attempted coup.

Interior Minister Gustavo Jalkh told Efe that most of the detainees are police who are being held in 24-hour preventive detention.

Also detained was a close ally of former President Lucio Gutierrez, Fidel Araujo, who can be seen in television footage of the start of the mutiny at Quito Regiment Number One.

“It’s a savage persecution. All due-process rights have been trampled upon,” the attorney for the detainees, Patricio Armijos, told reporters.

The government is trying to identify what it considers the focal point of the insurrection, a group of police “with no limits or scruples, with clear political ties, that doesn’t hesitate to kill, kidnap or torture,” the leftist president said Wednesday in a session with foreign correspondents at the presidential palace.

“We won’t allow these types of far-right paramilitary groups to be created in Ecuador,” he added.

Indeed, a main concern of the government is that a mass purge of the police will drive rogue officers to form illegal armed groups, a senior government official, who requested his name be withheld, told Efe.

Correa has denounced the existence of the so-called Police Armed Group, or GAP, which he said sent messages and posters to officers in the days prior to the revolt to stir up discontent.

The government did not detect this “disinformation campaign” prior to the uprising, the president acknowledged.

“The intelligence services failed,” said Correa, who added that he went in person to Regiment Number One because he believed the officers who had occupied those installations on the capital’s north side were merely staging a protest.

“We didn’t gauge the magnitude of the problem,” said Correa, who was roughed up while trying to reason with the rebellious police before being effectively held hostage at a nearby hospital for more than 12 hours until loyal police and troops rescued him amid a hail of gunfire from the mutinous cops.

He said Ecuador’s intelligence services had previously depended financially on the U.S. embassy and that his administration is acting autonomously in reconstructing those agencies.

He also linked Washington to a subversive core of police that he said is upset over investigations into human rights abuses and angered about the cutting off of some units’ ties with the U.S. embassy, adding that “those people received a lot of funds unofficially.”

However, Correa made it clear that the revolt “had nothing to do with the government of (Barack) Obama,” who, a U.S. official told Efe, telephoned the Ecuadorian leader Wednesday to express support.

Obama “reiterated the United States’ support for President Correa and the Ecuadorian democratic institutions,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

A state of emergency remained in effect Wednesday in Ecuador and soldiers were in charge of protecting the National Assembly and other institutions.

The police unit assigned to the legislature has been relieved of its duties because of suspicion it collaborated with the mutinous police.

The ostensible cause of last week’s rebellion was the National Assembly’s failure to override Correa’s veto of a measure exempting police and the military from an overhaul of public-employee pay.

While the plan, which became law Monday, eliminates various annual bonuses automatically paid to police, soldiers and other civil servants once they achieve specified levels of seniority, the government points out that cops have seen their base pay doubled since Correa took office in 2007.

One soldier and a civilian supporter of the president were killed by gunfire from the police rebels during the operation to rescue Correa from the hospital.

Nationwide, eight people died and 274 others were wounded in incidents related to the mutiny.

Correa has publicly blamed the Sociedad Patriotica party, founded by former President Gutierrez, for the rebellion, though the erstwhile head of state – living in exile in Brazil – denies any involvement. EFE

Police discussed killing Ecuador's president, radio transmissions show

2010-10-07T20:13:00.001+11:00

By the CNN Wire Staff

October 6, 2010 -- Updated 1901 GMT (0301 HKT)

President Rafael Correa has called Thursday's police uprising an attempted coup.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"They should kill Correa so this will end," man is heard saying on tape
Another says Correa "leaves dead" if he doesn't sign a decree
Threats were made while national police held Correa captive at a hospital
Fifty police have been arrested, the government news agency said

(CNN) -- Rogue national police who held Ecuador's president captive for 11 hours last week talked about killing him, according to an audio recording the state-run Andes news agency said were police radio transmissions.

President Rafael Correa has called Thursday's police uprising an attempted coup, a characterization supported Wednesday by Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization of American States. Police had taken to the streets to protest government austerity measures they said would limit bonuses and compensation.

Correa had gone to meet with some of the protesters but was surrounded by a heckling crowd that jostled him and hurled insults. Someone then fired a tear gas canister at Correa and a man was seen on TV video punching the president and trying to yank his gas mask off.

Correa was led away and taken to a hospital, where he was held until the military attacked the police and liberated the president several hours later.

The reported police radio transmissions released by the Andes news outlet late Tuesday night took place while Correa was being held at the hospital. CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio material.

"They should kill Correa so this will end," an unidentified man said on the recording. "Kill Correa and this demonstration will end."

Another man on the recording indicates that police wanted Correa to sign a decree guaranteeing unspecified benefits, but which likely refers to the austerity measures.

"The gentleman who is supposedly president will not leave without signing the attributions that correspond to the national police," the man says. "That gentleman has to assure our complete amnesty."

Yet another man threatens Correa, calling him a vulgar name.

"Don't let that [expletive] leave," the man says. "First, he has to sign and then he can leave. If not, that [expletive] leaves dead."

But not all the voices heard on the recording urged violence against Correa.

"Let's not talk about assassinations," a man says. "We are police. We are representatives of authority. Let's defend our rights, but that gentleman has to leave, to quit being president."

Fifty police officers have been arrested, the Andes agency said Wednesday.

Among those arrested was retired army Maj. Fidel Araujo, who was seen in a video instigating the protesters, Andes said.

Araujo has denied any connection with the uprising, said CNN affiliate Ecuavisa TV.

Araujo is connected to the Patriotic Society political party, led by former President Lucio Gutierrez, Ecuavisa said.

The suspects are being held for 48 hours while authorities determine whether to file charges.

Correa has said Gutierrez, who was president from 2003 to 2005, was behind the uprising.

Gutierrez told CNN en Espanol last week he was not involved. He has been out of the country but was expected to return to Ecuador on Wednesday.

The government said at least four people were killed in the firefight between the military and police -- two soldiers, a police officer and a university student. Nearly 200 others were injured in unrest throughout the country, Ecuador's health minister said.

In response to the deaths, the government declared a one-week state of emergency Thursday afternoon and put the military in charge of security. That state of emergency was extended through this Friday.

Mass protests stop police coup in Ecuador

2010-10-07T20:10:00.002+11:00

By Berta Joubert-Ceci

Published Oct 6, 2010 6:19 PM

The Ecuadorean people came into the streets by the thousands to confront the national police and prevent a coup and possible assassination of President Rafael Correa on Sept. 30. A section of about 800 of these police had kept the president captive for 14 hours at the Police Hospital in Quito before military units brought him back to the presidential palace.

Like the rightist coup that kidnapped and overthrew legitimate Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in June 2009, this latest coup attempt targets a country that chose to join the Bolivarian Alliance of Our Americas (ALBA). It was a blow directed at the progressive political developments taking place in Latin America that challenge U.S. imperialist interests.

U.S. ambassador to Ecuador, Heather Hodges, is a notorious right-wing anti-Cuban diplomat once closely associated with the genocidal Ríos Montt dictatorship in Guatemala. In 2008 she defended the U.S. role when Ecuador’s Defense Minister Javier Ponce revealed that U.S. diplomats were involved in corrupting the police and officers from the armed forces.

Most progressive analysts attribute the Sept. 30 coup’s defeat to three factors: first, the mass response in Ecuador; second, the immediate international support for constitutional rule from the progressive governments in Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba followed by all others in Latin America along with mass mobilizations throughout South America; and third, Correa’s courageous refusal to bow to the police threats.

Since details of this outrageous act have been broadly publicized, this article will try to present the most important developments that will help put the attempted coup in the context of political developments in Ecuador and Latin America. Vice president of the Ecuadorean Workers Confederation (CTE), Edgar Sarango, gave Workers World some of that context in an Oct. 4 interview.

“The CTE has been firm about the latest developments,” said Sarango. “The CTE follows the political position of the Communist Party, and as you saw, we were on the streets responding against those opportunist sectors that wanted to take power through a coup.

“We are very clear about the position, the character of the Citizens’ Revolution and President Correa; we understand it is not a truly leftist government, but a reformist government with clear intentions to go forward to the left. It is up to us, the social movements, the left parties, to support and above all, organize so that the real conditions are set so that the government does not go to the right, because it is a government that although not left, has not closed the doors to the sectors from the left.

“In that sense, we, the left, must do the political-organizational work. We are very clear about that.”

It was an assassination attempt

Now for the events of Sept. 30.

Using the excuse that a new law changed some of their salaries and benefits, a sector of the national police rebelled against Correa’s government on Sept. 30. Correa went to the Police Regiment building in an attempt to negotiate with these disaffected police. Police then rioted, shouting insults at Correa. They called for his resignation and praised former President Lucio Gutiérrez.

Many Ecuadoreans consider Gutiérrez a traitor, because he had run on a progressive platform opposing neoliberal policies, but almost immediately reversed himself, embracing a free trade agreement with George Bush. A mass uprising ejected Gutiérrez in 2005.

An angry police mob surrounded Correa and his small team of bodyguards as they left the building, throwing tear gas canisters at his head and attempting to suffocate him by removing his gas mask. While the president was walking with a cane because of a recent knee surgery, they also tried to hit his knees. Correa’s bodyguards were able to rush him to the hospital, where he was surrounded by rioting police who threatened to kill him.

When people learned what had happened, thousands began gathering in front of the Carondelet Presidential Palace, hoping to liberate him. Many also defied pepper and tear gas to surround the rioting police at the hospital.

The army was slower to respond. Correa had said he wanted the army to hold off to prevent a bloodbath, but that the generals stood silently for so long while their President was in real danger indicates ambivalence. Correa’s personal guard and hospital personnel prevented any attack on him.

Only as night fell, did some 600 elite troops storm into the hospital while the police fired at them. Police continued shooting at an armored van removing Correa, hitting it with five bullets and killing one of his guards when a powerful shell perforated his bulletproof vest. As of Oct. 4 CNNE reported 10 deaths, including a young Correa supporter.

Destabilizing forces

As the police were rioting in Quito, rightist political and social groups around the country were calling for a revolt against the government. They closed Quito’s international airport and the main highways to the capital. Privately owned media misreported the events. One of Lucio Gutiérrez’s lawyers tried to silence the government’s national TV, storming into TV Ecuador’s offices and breaking their glass doors.

Gutiérrez, who has opposed Correa since the latter won the 2006 presidential elections, called for the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of immediate presidential elections. Correa was re-elected in 2009.

But in spite of this climate of chaos, the people around the country rallied in support of their president, passionately defending the Constitution and their Revolución Ciudadana (Citizens’ Revolution).

Popular and international response

The governments in Latin America quickly condemned the coup attempt. UNASUR called an emergency meeting for Oct. 1. The Organization of American States met urgently in Washington. Condemning the coup were not only Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, but even the rightist regimes in Peru and Colombia were constrained to criticize the police revolt. Washington, albeit lukewarmly, was also forced to condemn the actions against Correa.

Throughout Latin America people held immediate demonstrations in many countries, including a massive one in Venezuela. Organizations in many countries sent messages of support to Correa, including one from the International Action Center.

At a press conference at the United Nations Ecuadorean Mission a day later on Oct. 1, attended by members of the Spanish language media, some 85 members of the New York metropolitan area Ecuadorean and Latin American communities and four Ecuadorean consuls from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey condemned the police actions, calling them a coup attempt. Members of the International Action Center’s Latin America and Caribbean Solidarity Committee participated.

The Ecuadoreans distributed copies of their Constitution, which guarantees the right of Ecuadoreans to control their own land, as well as guaranteeing the rights of the Indigenous peoples. The Ecuadorean Constitution is a small booklet imprinted with the statement, “from the Citizens’ Revolution with infinite love.”

After the press conference, 100 people marched to the United Nations, where they stood in front of the General Assembly building waving Ecuadorean flags and chanting, “¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!” (The people united will never be defeated!) and “¡Correa, amigo, el pueblo está contigo!” (Correa, friend, the people are with you!)

Back at the Ecuadorean Mission to the United Nations, Ambassador Francisco Carrión told some of those invited, “History was made today in Ecuador. The people were unafraid. They demonstrated their love for their president and their nation. A coup cannot happen again in Ecuador,” he said.

“Democracy and constitutional law have prevailed, and the Ecuadorean people were vigilant in the face of this threat to their sovereignty. Those who are responsible will be punished.”

Why the coup attempt?

The current government of Ecuador is on imperialism’s hit list. Just like ALBA members Bolivia in 2008, Venezuela in 2003 and Honduras in 2009, the pro-U.S. oligarchy in Ecuador wants no part of a participatory democracy where the government aids the most dispossessed sectors of society. They want a regime working directly for the oligarchy’s or transnational corporations’ interests.

Since Correa took office, there have been important and progressive changes in Ecuador. The government cancelled the Pentagon’s contract for the use of a military base in Manta. It enacted a new very progressive pro-people constitution. And Correa has refused to accept a “free trade” agreement with the U.S. Ecuador even joined the ALBA.

U.S. imperialism still holds much power in Ecuador as the country’s main trading partner and financer and trainer of Ecuador’s police force. Washington’s CIA-related organizations like USAID have given millions of dollars to so-called “pro-Democracy” organizations in Ecuador that seek the ouster of Correa. The Voice of America has many affiliated stations throughout Ecuador that feed disinformation about the government to the poor and the Indigenous masses, trying to turn them against President Correa.

Whether or not Washington was “actively” involved in this attempt, its support for the Honduran coup and the current government of illegitimate Porfirio Lobo has encouraged the oligarchy and right-wing forces in Ecuador and in the rest of the region.

NYC WW correspondent Heather Cottin contributed to this article.

Next: U.S. role in Ecuador.

Mass protests stop police coup in Ecuador

2010-10-07T20:10:00.000+11:00

By Berta Joubert-Ceci

Published Oct 6, 2010 6:19 PM

“In that sense, we, the left, must do the political-organizational work. We are very clear about that.”

It was an assassination attempt

Now for the events of Sept. 30.

Destabilizing forces

Popular and international response

“Democracy and constitutional law have prevailed, and the Ecuadorean people were vigilant in the face of this threat to their sovereignty. Those who are responsible will be punished.”

Why the coup attempt?

NYC WW correspondent Heather Cottin contributed to this article.

Next: U.S. role in Ecuador.

Ecuador Will Deepen and Radicalize Citizens' Revolution

2010-10-07T19:45:00.000+11:00

The popular mobilization that defeated the September 30 coup attempt in Ecuador will allow the radicalization and deepening of the political project of the Citizens' Revolution, Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño affirmed in a press conference.

President Rafael Correa during the attempt of coup.

However, the crisis is not over because those who attacked constitutionally-elected President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadorian people are still free, which is why the state of emergency was extended until Friday, Patiño said.

The legal system has a lot of work to do, given the amount of suspicion and circumstantial evidence, he said.

Meanwhile, leaders of the Patriotic Society Party were arrested and escorted to the district attorney's office to have them clarify their participation in the events.

Patiño noted that while Correa, who was democratically elected and re-elected, was being held prisoner, the members of parliament from the Madera de Guerrero Party were requesting amnesty for the kidnappers instead of asking for the president's liberation.

Patiño recognized that "we have been too naive, since we thought that there could be a revolution without a counterrevolution, but that seems unlikely."

Report Confirmed: U.S. Intelligence has Penetrated the Ecuadorian Police

2010-10-07T19:41:00.000+11:00

BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD

The uprising by elements of the Ecuadorian police against President Rafael Correa confirms an alarming report, released in 2008, on the infiltration of the Ecuadorian police by U.S. intelligence services, which indicated how many members of police forces had developed a "dependency" on the U.S. Embassy.

The report stated that police units "maintain an informal economic dependence on the United States for the payment of informants, training, equipment and operations."

The systematic use of techniques of corruption on the part of the CIA to acquire the "good will" of police officers was described and reported on numerous occasions by former CIA agent Philip Agee who, before leaving the ranks of the agency, was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Quito.

In his official report, released in late October 2008, Ecuador's Defense Minister Javier Ponce, revealed how U.S. diplomats were involved in corrupting the police and also officers of the Armed Forces.

Confirming the fact, the headquarters of the Ecuadorian Police then announced that it would penalize agents who worked with the U.S., while the U.S. Embassy proclaimed the "transparency" of its support for Ecuador.

"We work with the government of Ecuador, with the military, the police, for purposes very important for security," said U.S. Ambassador in Quito, Heather Hodges.

However, the diplomat told reporters she would not comment "on intelligence matters."

For her part, the press attaché, Marta Youth, flatly refused to refer to the complaints of the Ecuadorian government, including CIA involvement in a deal with Colombia that led to the Colombian military attack against the FARC, in Ecuadorian territory on March 1of that year.

The Army's intelligence chief, Mario Pazmino, had been dismissed for withholding information related to the attack on the FARC.

In recent months, U.S. officials appeared in Ecuador, under the pretext of deepening relations between Ecuador and the U.S.

Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere of the Department of State, Arturo Valenzuela, visited and re-visited President Correa, with a view to a visit by Chancellor Hillary Clinton.

Valenzuela was accompanied by Tedd Stern, "special representative for climate change," also known for his affinity with the CIA.

Ecuador: Right-wing coup attempt defeated

2010-10-07T19:40:00.000+11:00

Sunday, October 3, 2010

By Duroyan Fertl

Demonstration against the coup attempt outside the Ecuadorian embassy in Sydney, October 1. Photo by Pip Hinman

On September 30, Ecuador descended into chaos as a protest by sections of the police force and army turned into a potentially bloody coup against left-wing President Rafael Correa.

At about 8am, sections of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces and the national police went on strike, occupying police stations and barracks in the capital Quito, in Guayaquil and in at least four other cities. They set up road blocks with burning tyres, cutting off access to the capital.

They also stormed and occupied the National Assembly building and took over the runway at Quito’s Mariscal Sucre International Airport.

Schools and many businesses in Quito shut down early, as opposition protesters attempted to take over and sabotage broadcasts from television station Gama TV.

The protests were in response to a new public service law designed to harmonise income and benefits across the Ecuadorian civil service. Many police and troops, however, believed the law would remove their benefits and bonuses, as well as delay promotions.

In an attempt to end the strike, Correa went in person to the main police garrison in Quito to convince the police there was a misunderstanding — and their benefits were safe and their wages would in fact increase.

The situation spiralled out of control when a number of rebel police pointed their guns at Correa and threatened him. A tear gas canister was thrown, exploding only centimetres from the president’s head.

When Correa donned a gas mask, it was ripped from his head.

Stunned and overcome by the gas, the president was rushed to a nearby hospital. The hospital was soon surrounded by rebel police and opposition protesters. The rebels refused to allow anyone to enter or leave the building — imprisoning the elected, constitutional president.

As news got out, tens of thousands of Correa’s supporters took to the streets across the country, chanting “Correa, hang in there, the people are rising up!” and demanding that Correa be freed.

Rebel police attempted to force their way into the hospital through windows and the roof.

In a phone interview with Radio Publica from the hospital, Correa said he would refuse to negotiate with the rebels, despite the danger to his life, for as long as they held him captive.

Correa insisted he was still the president and the “citizen’s revolution” of social justice reforms that began with his 2007 election would continue — with or without him.

“I'm not going to back down”, Correa said. “Kill me, but as [Chilean poet] Pablo Neruda said, ‘You can cut all the flowers but you cannot hold back Spring’.”

Correa blamed the attempted coup on Patriotic Society Party leader Lucio Gutierrez, a former neoliberal president overthrown in a popular uprising 2005.

The Army Chief of Staff declared his support for Correa. However, the president refused to call on the army to rescue him until he discovered that government supporters outside the hospital were under fire from the rebel police.

A state of emergency was declared and loyal sectors of the army finally launched an attack on the hospital, forcing their way through the protesters and rebels, and freeing the president.

During the day’s violence, at least five people were killed and about 200 injured. Bullets were fired into the hospital room where Correa was holed up. Bullets also hit the army vehicle carrying Correa after his rescue.

After his release, Correa was greeted by a crowd of thousands of supporters chanting “the people united will never be defeated”.

Speaking from the Presidential Palace that evening, Correa said there would be "no pardon or forgiveness" for those involved in the coup and promised a deep “cleansing of the national police".

The national police chief General Freddy Martinez has already resigned, citing the insubordination of junior officers.

Some analysts have argued the incident was merely a protest that got out of control. Correa and his government, however, insisted it was a coup attempt — including an attempt to murder the head of state.

Prominent opposition leader and Guayaquil Mayor Jaime Nesbot denied any involvement in the protests. However, foreign minister Ricardo Patino joined Correa in accusing Gutierrez of initiating a coup d’etat.

Gutierrez, who implemented polices favourable to US corporations during his time in power, described the accusation as “totally false” in an interview from Brazil.

However, Gutierrez said “the end of Correa’s tyranny is at hand”. He called for the National Assembly to be dissolved and early presidential elections as a “solution” to the “crisis”, for which he blamed Correa.

The United States has also been accused of involvement in the attempted coup against Correa.

After the US-backed 2009 military coup in Honduras against elected left-leaning president Manuel Zelaya, Correa claimed to have intelligence that “after Zelaya, I am next”.

The initial reaction of the US to the coup attempt was non-committal, as it was during the Honduras coup. Other countries, such as France and even Colombia, immediately condemned the actions against Correa, but a US state department spokesperson merely said the Obama administration was “closely monitoring” the situation.

A statement in support of Ecuadorian democracy was made only several hours later.

Correa was elected in 2006 promising to lead a “citizen’s revolution” to eradicate poverty, deepen grassroots democracy and build a “socialism of the 21st Century” — echoing his allies Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales.

All three oppose US domination of the region and support Latin American unity and integration.

As in Venezuela and Bolivia, the Correa government opened the way for a constituent assembly to draft a new progressive constitution then approved by popular vote.

In 2009, Correa removed an unconstitutional US military air base from the coastal town of Manta, removing US forces from the country.

Correa had offered the US government, which wished to keep its presence, a choice: the US military could stay if Ecuador was allowed a military base of its own in Florida.

However, US presence in Ecuador continues, mainly through two key sources of US government funding for Ecuadorian non-governmental organisations — the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Both are run out of the US Embassy and have been implicated in coup attempts against Chavez and Morales.

Correa has also repeatedly accused the US of infiltrating his security and public services.

Journalist Jean-Guy Allard said an official 2008 report from Ecuador’s defence minister Javier Ponce revealed how “US diplomats dedicated themselves to corrupting the police and the Armed Forces” — including providing independent training, funding and equipment.

US infiltration of the Ecuadorian military has a long history. Thousands of Ecuadorian officers have been trained at the infamous US-run School of the Americas (SOA), which has been involved in military coups and dictatorships across the continent for decades.

Interior minister Miguel Carvajal said: “We're faced with a process of destabilisation of the national government and democracy in Ecuador.”

The attempted coup in Ecuador took place in a volatile regional context. On September 26, pro-Chavez forces won hard-fought parliamentary elections in Venezuela against the US-funded right-wing opposition.

The following day, Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba, a strong proponent of a peaceful resolution to Colombia’s decades-long civil war, was dismissed as a senator by Colombia’s inspector general, on the basis of falsified evidence.

The violence in Ecuador appears to be part of a regional offensive to roll back the gains of Latin America’s progressive movements and governments.

The rebellion also exposes some of the weaknesses of Correa’s “citizen’s revolution”.

Ecuador’s powerful indigenous federation, the CONAIE, issued a statement strongly condemning the coup attempt and declaring its support for democracy. But the CONAIE was also highly critical of Correa, accusing him of undermining the social movements while not weakening the forces of the state that oppose them.

“While the government has dedicated itself exclusively to attacking and delegitimising organised sectors like the indigenous movement, workers' unions, etc.”, the CONAIE said, “it hasn't weakened in the least the structures of power of the right, or those within the state apparatus.”

Correa has clashed repeatedly with the CONAIE — who supported his election — over a number of issues such as mining, indigenous rights and water.

The CONAIE, which represents Ecuador’s forty percent indigenous population, helped lead the overthrow of the three Ecuadorian presidents before Correa.

Correa’s popular support is likely to increase as a result of the coup attempt, giving him an opportunity to drive his reform agenda further. However, the ambiguous position of the CONAIE underscores the weak relationship Correa enjoys with Ecuador’s important social movements.

If Correa fails to keep them on side, a better coordinated coup attempt may well be successful, and the revolutionary project in Ecuador could falter.

Ecuador unrest: Rafael Correa returns to presidential palace

2010-10-01T19:01:00.000+10:00

Ecuadorean army troops have stormed a hospital in Quito and rescued President Rafael Correa, who had been trapped inside and surrounded by renegade police protesting against government austerity measures.

By Ben Westwood in Guayaquil

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa runs away from tear gas during a protest by police officers and soldiers against a new law that cuts their benefits Photo: REUTERS

Mr Correa arrived back at the presidential palace in the capital, where local television images showed a large crowd of supporters cheering and waving Ecuador's flag.

He said one police officer had "fallen" during fighting around the hospital where he remained for hours during a day of turmoil in the South American nation.

He had been freed moments earlier amid gunfire after soldiers raided the building where he spent most of the day.

Mr Correa had been prevented from leaving the police hospital after he was attacked with teargas as he attempted to negotiate with the police.

Walking on crutches after a recent operation, he arrived at a police barracks to talk about a strike over pay but was jostled and pushed by angry policemen. He was then fired on with teargas.

For the next few hours, nothing was heard from the president and rumours circulated that he was being held against his will. At 6pm, Mr Correa telephoned state television station ECTV to confirm that the police had taken away his bodyguards and he had been "practically kidnapped".

Police chiefs denied this but protesters attempting to free him were also fired upon with teargas as they tried to reach the hospital.

Mr Correa remained defiant in the face of the police action, saying: "I will not take a single step back. I will not sign any agreement under pressure. I would die first. I thank my compatriots for their support and ask citizens to remain calm."

As night fell in Quito, the capital faced the unprecedented situation of the army and police fighting each other in the streets. At 9pm, the army attacked the police guarding the hospital with teargas and rubber bullets. Several soldiers are reported to have been injured in the fighting.

The president was seen leaving in a convoy half an hour later and returned to the presidential palace where a crowd of supporters had gathered.

He said from the palace: "This has been a very sad day."

He quickly moved to blame former President Lucio Gutierrez, who himself was removed in a coup in 2005.

"Lucio Gutierrez's people were behind this. His supporters have manipulated it all. They twisted everything in a conspiracy."

He then criticiced the policemen who held him, labelling them "cowards". He vowed to continues with his policies, adding: "Nobody will stop the citizen's revolution. We will never give in."

World leaders have rallied around Mr Correa. Venezuelan President, a close ally, condemned the "coup attempt", while Bolivian President Evo Morales spoke of a "vengeful conspiracy" against Mr Correa, comparing the situation with the coup d'etat in Honduras earlier this year.

This unprecedented situation began with a dispute over police pay.

Ecuador woke up on Thursday to news that thousands of police officers had decided to strike in protest at a public service law passed by the country's Assembly which removed bonuses for good performance and long service.

For most of the day, Ecuador was without a working police force as policemen mounted a nationwide strike, blockading bridges and seizing control of Quito airport. Countless robberies were reported at shops and banks in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city. In one incident in Guayaquil, a mob of 30 people armed with hammers looted an electronics store. Police chiefs and army chiefs meanwhile refused to support the strike and pledged support to the president.

According to the Red Cross, 51 people have been injured in the protests and there has been at least one unconfirmed death. A state of emergency was declared in the early afternoon and the army was deployed to remove barriers and reopen the airport. The government station ECTV then assumed control of all news communications in a controversial move. This prompted an angry mob to storm the station, breaking glass and assaulting security men.

Fighting continues between the police and army.

Related News: * Executive · * Latin America Ecuador's Correa Vows Not to Negotiate, Thanks Security Forces for Rescue

2010-10-01T19:00:00.000+10:00

Ecuadorian President Rafael Vicente Correa. Photographer: Katsumi Kasahara/AFP/Getty Images

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was freed by security forces amid gunfire after protesters and police massed around a hospital building in a bid to keep him inside, state television reported.

At least one person died in clashes involving the military and police officers, who are protesting a plan to cut their wages, according to the Telesur network. Correa called the acts against him treason and said police had “stabbed me in the back,” according to remarks broadcast from the presidential palace.

Ecuador had declared a state of emergency after hundreds of police protesting wage cuts blocked roads, shut the airport for several hours and sprayed teargas on Correa.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez backed Correa’s claim that he was the target of an organized coup attempt, even though none of the protesters or members of the opposition have demanded he step down. He and other regional leaders traveled to Buenos Aires for a meeting to show support for the embattled leader.

The president was taken to a hospital after scuffling with the police and was holed up as officers surrounded the facility, refusing to let his personal security forces escort him out of the building. Looters ransacked banks, supermarkets and shopping malls in the port city of Guayaquil, the country’s largest, and 51 people were injured amid the violence, the Red Cross said.

“Here I am. If they want to kill me, go ahead,” Correa said after protesters hurled a tear-gas canister at him and doused him with hot water. “I won’t back down.”

Ecuador, which has defaulted on $3.2 billion of international debt since 2008, has seen three presidents ousted in the past 13 years. Correa, a 47-year-old economist who took office in 2007, brought a modicum of stability to the politically tumultuous nation of 14 million, becoming the first president to win two terms when he won re-election last year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nathan Gill in Quito at ngill4@bloomberg.net; Alexander Emery in Lima at aemery1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at jgoodman19@bloomberg.net

Chavez condemns attempted coup in Ecuador

2010-10-01T18:58:00.000+10:00

Friday, October 1, 2010

By Tamara Pearson, Merida

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Mérida, September 30th 2010 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – As a coup attempt takes place in Ecuador, Venezuela and regional organisations of Latin America have come out in solidarity with Ecuador, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on the people and military of Ecuador to defend President Rafael Correa and their country’s democracy.

Ecuador is a close ally of Venezuela, and a fellow member of the progressive Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our America (ALBA).

Early this afternoon the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry released an official statement condemning the coup attempt and expressing its solidarity with President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadoran people.

The statement said, “A few minutes ago President Hugo Chavez Frias talked with President Rafael Correa, who is being held in the National Police hospital in Quito. President Correa confirmed that what is taking place is a coup attempt, given the insubordination by a section of the National Police towards the authorities and the law”.

“Commander Hugo Chavez expressed his support for the constitutional president of our sister, the Republic of Ecuador, and condemned, in the name of the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our America (ALBA), this attack against the constitution and the people of Ecuador,” continued the statement.

“The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela expresses its confidence that President Rafael Correa and the Ecuadoran people will overturn this coup attempt and, together with the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, we will be alert and accompanying them with solidarity in this historic moment,” the statement concluded.

Correa: 'I'm not going to give up'

Later this afternoon, Chavez talked on the telephone with Telesur, commenting on the coup attempt as he prepared to travel to Argentina to meet with other presidents of UNASUR and discuss the situation in Ecuador.

“According to what our ambassador [in Ecuador] has reported, the airports have been taken. It’s an operation that has been prepared. They are the forces of... the extreme right,” he said.

“The president [of Ecuador] is alone [in the hospital] with just an assistant and a few security members. Our ambassador Navas Tortolero tried to enter the hospital but they impeded him. There is a lot of police violence and its clear they received instructions from above.”

Correa “told me, ‘I’m ready to die, I’m not going to give up’,” Chavez said.

Chavez argued that a peaceful march needs to support the president, and the military needs to guarantee the peace. “Only Ecuadorians can neutralise the coup attempt... and can save democracy in Venezuela,” he said.

“Correa is a man of great dignity, we’ve seen him confront this situation despite his physical condition, his knee [which was operated on recently]... I have faith in President Correa, who has already suffered attacks from outside Ecuador in the sad case of Colombia’s incursion... he knows how to respond and how to plant peace in Ecuador,” Chavez said.

Chavez also commented that it was “strange that the military hasn’t appeared... their president is kidnapped... they aren’t letting him out, hopefully there’ll be a reaction... I’ve talked with Venezuelan military in Ecuador who tell me that the military there are in their barracks but they aren’t active... the situation is very very bad.”

Chavez called on the Ecuadoran military to “not allow them to massacre the Ecuadorian people” and to “rescue President Correa.”

“It’s a coup attempt against ALBA... the countries who have raised the banner of democracy... the [coup] masters... we know where they are, they are in Washington,” he concluded.

Already, Venezuelans are mobilising outside the Ecuadorian embassy in Caracas.

Regional response

The Organisation of American States (OAS) is holding an emergency meeting and ALBA and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) are making arrangements to hold emergency meetings.

However, Chavez commented on Telesur that the OAS is “impotent” in the face of such situations. “Beyond chest beating”, nothing will come out of it, he argued, sighting the case of Honduras.

To date in the OAS meeting, all government representatives who have spoken, including those from the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay, have said they reject the coup attempt.

Cuba, the European Union, the general secretary of the United Nations, Mexico, France, and Bolivia also declared their support for the democratically-elected Ecuadoran government.

The US ambassador to the OAS, Carmen Lomellin, stated, “We condemn any attempt to violate or alter the constitutional process and constitutional order in Ecuador”.

ALBA has also released a formal statement, manifesting “solidarity with the legitimate government of President Rafael Correa and with the sovereign people of Ecuador”.

Nestor Kirchner, general secretary of UNASUR, expressed his total support for and “absolute solidarity” with the Ecuadorian government.

Events in Ecuador

This morning police forces in Quito, Ecuador, took over strategic sites, including an airbase, airports and parliament. President Correa immediately went to the military base to work out a solution. Police claimed they were protesting a law passed on Wednesday that allegedly would reduce their work benefits.

Correa argued that his government had doubled police wages and that rather the law just restructured the benefits.

He also denounced that ex-President Lucio Gutierrez, who, following large protests, was removed from office by a vote of the Ecuadorian congress in 2005, was behind the protest and using it to justify a coup.

Police forces attacked Correa with tear gas and the president was hospitalised shortly after in a military hospital, which coup forces subsequently surrounded. Since then he has not been able to leave.

Supporters have gathered around the presidential palace, and the Ecuadoran government has declared a state of emergency.

In a nationally televised press conference, Ecuador’s top military officials declared their support for the constitutional order of Ecuador. The top commander, General Ernesto González, demanded the police cease their subversive activities. However, the military has yet to intervene to end the police’s occupations, and only Ecuadoran civilians have taken to the streets to confront the police.

The coup attempt is not the first against an ALBA country, countries which challenge US domination in Latin America. In June 2009, Honduras, an ALBA member at the time, was subject to a coup d’état that forced its president Manuel Zelaya from power. In 2004, a coup similar to the one in Honduras was carried out in Haiti with US backing. In 2002 Venezuela was also subject to a coup, but a huge mobilisation by Venezuelans combined with military support for Chavez, defeated the coup.

Source: Venezuelanalysis.com

Coup Attempt in Ecuador Today Update Eight: The Ecuadoran MiMilitary Move Against the Police to Free President Correa.

2010-10-01T18:57:00.000+10:00

By Les Blough in Venezuela. Axis of Logic.

Axis of Logic

Thursday, Sep 30, 2010

Watch the coup d'etat unfolding in
Ecuador live, in Spanish, on TELESUR

Update Eight

The Ecuadoran Military Move Against the Police to Free President Correa.

We have been wondering all day, "Where is the military!?" Well, now we know, they have been planning, under the direction of their Commander in Chief, President Correa, how to crush this coup d'etat. As I write this update, they are doing it. Under the cameras of TeleSur, the Ecuadoran Military are making their move against the police who have inititated and carried out this coup attempt since early this morning. Oh! This is real time. The Military has rescued Correa and he is addressing the people. He says that only one part of the Ecuadoran police has been involved in this coup attempt. Under the administration of Rafael Correa, the US-backed Coup d'etat has been utterly destroyed. Unlike the US-backed coup against Zelaya in Honduras in 2009, this one is not going to fly my friends. As I write, I have a Venezuelan revolutionary sitting by my side. He just said to me, "The people are waking up". Go to the TeleSur site linked above for live action. Stay tuned for our next update.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

Update Seven

The Venezuelan People Stand With Their Sisters and Brothers in Ecuador.

On the streets of Caracas tonight, thousands of Venezuelan people have come out in support of the Ecuadoran people and their president, Rafael Correa. They are gathering in front of the Ecuadoran Embassy in Caracas cheering and supporting their sisters and brothers in the war against US imperialism. Venezuelans remember all too well the US-backed coup against the president they elected into office in 1998, Hugo Chavez. They remember April 11, 2010 when the corrupted Venezuelan military officers kidnapped their president and tried to overthrow their government. What is happening today in Ecuador strikes chord in their hearts. And the people of Ecuador have taken a lesson from Venezuelans. They too remember. They remember how the people came down from the barrios by the tens of thousands to Mira Flores and demanded that the Golpistas return their president (see The Revolution Will Not Be Televised). Today, the people of Ecuador went to the presidential palace to demand that the criminals return their president to his elected position. When they learned that the criminals had their president trapped in a hospital in Northern Quiito, they went there and they are there now, armed with nothing but their honor and dignity - confronting a well-armed right wing police force but they are not backing down. Nowhere on the planet will one find greater dignity, greater honor, greater morality than here, among "el pueblo" in ECuador, Venezuela ... Latin America.

- Les Blough in Venezuela 8:55 PM EST

Update Six:

President Correa broadcasts radio mssg. from hospital. Refuses to negotiate with Golpistas... more

A few minutes ago, President Correa spoke live on radio from the hospital where the right wing has him trapped. He stated that he will not, under any circumstances, negotiate with the criminals who are attempting to overthrow the government. Following his radio broadcast, the right wing broke down the doors of ECUATV (public tv) and shut it down but thus far are not attempting to use the station to address the pubic. Earlier today on public television (VTV), President Chávez addressed Venezuelans about the coup in Ecuador. Among other things, he stated that he does not understand what the Ecuadoran military has not intervened. But that was before ECUATV reported that Correa ordered the military NOT to intervene in order to prevent bloodshed.

- LMB 7:15 PM EST

Update Five

The Ecuadoran Ambassador to Venezuela confirmed that President Correa is in a good state of health, even as he is being held hostage in a hospital in North Quito by rebel police. Colombia & Peru have sealed their borders to Ecuador in support of Ecuadoran govt and Pres. Correa, who remains sequestered by police forces who are executing the coup. (TeleSur)

- LMB 5:15 PM

Update Four: Eva Golinger reports that the police who are involved in the coup are "violently repressing" the thousands of Ecuadoran people who have come out in support of their president. President Correa continues to be trapped, apparently in the hospital where he was taken after the police attacked him earlier today (read about the attack below). At 4:15 p.m. a military spokesman appeared on TeleSur stating that the Ecuadoran military supports the government and continues to recognize President Correa as their Commander in Chief. Why the military has not yet intervened and put down the rebel police is not clear. At this moment the people who went earlier to the Presidential Palace to rise up in support of their president - have now arrived at the hospital where the rebel police have Correa sequestered.

This is obviously a dangerous situation with the unarmed people confronting the police. The obvious question is this: If the Ecuadoran people can march to the hospital to attempt a rescue of their president, why is the Ecuadoran Military NOT there to put down this coup, take President Correa out of this dangerous situation and restore order?

Meanwhile, according to Golinger, governments throughout Venezuela have condemned the coup in Ecuador but the U.S. State Department has only said that it is "monitoring the situation in Ecuador." This mirrors the U.S. involvement and response to the kidnapping of President Zelaya and overthrow of the Honduran governement in June, 2009 and the attempted coup against President Chávez in April, 2002.

- LMB 4:30 PM EST

Update Three

The People Arrive at the Hospital to Protect Their President.

TeleSur reports that the Ecuadoran government has declared a state of emergency for 5 days and the military is supporting the government. Cesár Rodríguez, Vice President of the National Assembly reports that President Correa is in the hospital and that the rebel police are attempting to gain access to him, presumably to assassinate him. He was injured when he was attacked by the police as he attempted to speak with them. TeleSur broadcast live video just after the attack on his car, showing the president wearing a gas mask as he escaped the police mob. He was on crutches (due to surgery on his leg a few days ago). The nature and extent of his injuries from today's attack are unknown at this time.

Rebel Police Attack President Correa and
the People Rally to Support the Government
September 30, 2010

Update Two

Police Golpistas Attack President Correa's Car

1:30 PM TeleSur is reporting that when President Correa went to the largest police barracks in the north of Quito to speak with the golpistas, the police launched tear gas at his vehicle. Correa was taken to the hospital, apparently with injuries. He is currently in the hospital and some police are attempting to enter the hospital, reportedly through the roof of the hospital to execute the president. President Correa just issued a message in a radio broadcast from the hospital bidding farewell to the Ecuadoran people.

- LMB 1:30 pm Thursday.

This morning a blogger posted the following message on the internet:

USA makes coup in Ecuador?

The USA are promoting a coup in Ecuador.

We in Latin America are tired of USA imperialism!!!!!!!! First it was Honduras now Ecuador??? (excerpt deleted)

Until when will theUSA abuse the people of the World????

Here in Venezuela we request that ALL Latin American nations break ALL diplomatic and commercial ties with the USA!!!

Here in Venezuela we request that Russia breaks all diplomatic and commericial ties with the USA!!!

USA imperialism has got to stop already!!!!!

Here in Venezuela we are watching this counter-revolutionary action unfold on TeleSur. The corporate media is reporting that both, the military has seized the main airport in Quito and that the police have fired tear gass, burned tires "after taking over bases in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities." They also claim that an Associated Press photographer "witnessed soldiers participating in the action that shut down the main terminal at Quito's Mariscal Sucre airport."

On the other hand, TeleSur reports that the police have indeed launched a possible coup attempt but that the response by the military is yet unknown. At this moment TeleSur is showing footage of an angry President Correa speaking to a group of police protestors with the protestors shouting back at him.

Ostensibly, they are protesting a law passed by Congress on Wednesday that would end the practice of giving members of Ecuador's military and police medals and bonuses with each promotion. The law would also require police and military to wait for 7 years, rather than 5 for subsequent promotions. However, TeleSur is reporting that the "protests" are in fact a coup attempt. TeleSur is also broadcasting live video, showing large masses of the civilian population who arriving at Palacio Carondelet (Presidential Palace) and Plaza de Centro in Quito, waving flags in counter-protest against the police ... against the coup.

It is much to early to document any involvement in this coup attempt by Washington as claimed by the blogger quoted above. However, given the recent history of U.S.-instigated coups against revolutionary governments in Venezuela and Honduras and their century of imperialist attacks on Latin American countries, it's a safe bet that they are behind what is happening today in Ecuador.

As of noon today, the response by the military to these counter-revolutionaries is unknown and will be critical to the outcome. The Ecuadoran military is under civilian control. Axis of Logic will be following these developments closely, updating this report throughout the day.

You can also follow these developments in real time at the TeleSur link located in the left column of the front page of Axis of Logic.

- Les Blough in Venezuela

© Copyright 2010 by AxisofLogic.com

This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you!

Coup d'etat underway in Ecuador?

2010-10-01T18:54:00.000+10:00

WW4 Report on Thu, 09/30/2010

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa declared a state of emergency Sept. 30 as the National Police launched a rebellion over austerity measures that cut their benefits, erecting roadblocks with burning tires on the highways, occupying their barracks in all the major cities, and seizing the landing strips at the Quito airport. When Correa approached a police barracks to attempt to negotiate, officers shoved him and fired tear gas at him. Video footage showed men, including uniformed officers, manhandling the president and attempting to yank a gas-mask from his face. Correa, who recently underwent knee surgery, was still walking with a crutch. "This is a coup attempt," Correa said in a TV phone interview from a hospital, where he was taken for the effects of gas inhalation. "They're trying to get into my room, maybe to attack me. I don't know. But, forget it. I won't relent. If something happens to me, remember my infinite love for my country, and to my family I say that I will love them anywhere I end up." Correa later appeared at an upper floor window, shouting to a crowd of supporters who had gathered below, "I'm not taking one step back!" Ripping his necktie loose to reveal his chest, he added, "Gentlemen, if you want to kill the president, here he is, kill him if you have the guts."

As Correa supporters converged at the hospital, many threw rocks at police officers stationed outside, who responded with tear gas. Responding to a summons by Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño to "rescue" the president, Correa supporters also gathered outside the presidential palace. "[He] has said that there are people trying to get in from the roof and attack him," Patiño told the crowd. "I want to invite the brave people here below to go with us to rescue the president." At the palace, the pro-Correa crowd again faced off against police, who chanted, "The troops united will never be defeated!"

Patiño played down the populist element of the rebellion in comments to reporters. "This is not a popular mobilization, it is not a popular uprising, it is an uprising by the police who are ill-informed," Patiño told the TV network Telesur.

The state of emergency puts the military in charge of public order, suspending civil liberties and allowing soldiers to carry out searches without a warrant. Gen. Ernesto González, the army chief, pledged that the military remained loyal to Correa. "We are in a state of law. We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president," he told reporters. He also said that the officers involved in the rebellion "would have their rights respected" if they turn themselves in. But some 150 Ecuadoran Air Force troops were said to be involved in the occupation of Quito's airport.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez said that Correa's "life was in danger" and called the incident an attempted coup. On Twitter, Chávez said, "They are trying to topple President Correa. Be on alert people of the Bolivarian Alliance!"

Members of Correa's own left-wing Alianza Pais, which holds a majority in congress, are blocking legislative proposals aimed at cutting state costs. This has prompted Correa to weigh disbanding congress, a move that would let him rule by decree until new elections. Ecuador's new constitution, drafted by Correa's administration two years ago, allows the president to take this move, with approval of the Constitutional Court, following a declaration of political impasse. (The Guardian, AlJazeera, CNN, LAT, 26Noticias, Argentina, Sept. 30)

Ecuador's indigenous alliance, CONAIE, called a press conference to issue a statement opposing the police rebellion, but also harshly criticizing Correa: "A process of change, as weak as it may be, runs the risk of being overturned or overtaken by the right, old or new, if it does not establish alliances with organized social and popular sectors... While the government has dedicated itself exclusively to attacking and delegitimizing organized sectors like the indigenous movement, workers' unions, etc., it hasn't weakened in the least the power structures of the right, or those within the state apparatus, which has become evident through the rapidity of the response from the public forces. (Media Coop, Canada; El Espetcador, Ecuador, Sept. 30)

The President "Is Going to Pay for What He's Done"

2010-10-01T18:48:00.000+10:00

Diana Cariboni interviews activist JORGE ROJAS, a witness to the police uprising in Ecuador*

Demonstration in support of President Rafael Correa, who was just rescued by the army after being kidnapped by the police.

Credit:Office of the President of Ecuador

MONTEVIDEO, Sep 30, 2010 (IPS) - "We're not letting him (President Rafael Correa) leave, and he's going to pay for what he's done to the police."

That phrase from an Ecuadorian police official to his subordinates, which was overheard by Colombian human rights activist Jorge Rojas, provides a brief summary of Thursday's confusing events in Ecuador.

Police in Ecuador rioted Thursday, demanding the repeal of a public services law passed by Congress the day before, which would end the practice of granting soldiers and police medals and bonuses with each promotion, and would extend from five to seven years the period between promotions.

Correa was attacked by police protesters when he visited the police station where the rioting broke out early in the morning. From there he was taken to the police hospital, where he was still being held at 7:30 PM local time (12:30 PM GMT).

Rojas is a Colombian journalist who traded in his microphone and pen in the early 1990s to work with the Catholic Church on an issue that few were talking about at the time: the forced displacement of tens of thousands of rural inhabitants by the armed conflict in his country.

He became director of the Consultancy on Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), a leading national human rights organisation that is the main non-governmental source of information on the internally displaced in Colombia.

According to CODHES, more than four million people in Colombia have been forcibly displaced. Most of those who have fled the country have crossed the border into Ecuador.

That is why Rojas is in the Ecuadorian capital, to attend a meeting of experts from several countries on forced displacement and refugees, preparatory to a regional conference on the issue.

"The meeting, of course, has been damaged," he told IPS by telephone. "Our colleagues from Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia did not make it here, and I have been trapped here in Quito," because the air force closed down all the international airports.

Feeling the effects of the tear gas outside the hospital where Correa is "under siege," Rojas described what happened, in an interview with IPS at 4:00 PM local time (9:00 PM GMT).

"I'm in the middle of the demonstration...I came to see the mobilisation in support of the president," he said.

"This hospital is in the higher-lying area of Quito, to the northwest. A lot of people have come out to support Correa, but there's a contingent of around 200 police, who are using tear gas, firing weapons, repressing. They have beaten people," he said.

"But more people are showing up and the question is what is going to happen, because the army, which said it supported the government, hasn't appeared, it's not defending the hospital. We don't know how safe President Correa really is," he added.

Q: You mentioned that you heard instructions given among the police. Can you tell me about that?

A: When I was in the National Assembly (the legislature), I went up close to a group of police who were receiving guidelines from a colonel or general, I couldn't tell which. This officer told the police not to talk in terms of "kidnapping the president," because that could cause problems for them. He said they should say the president was being "protected by the police in the hospital."

And in the same breath, the officer said: "But we're not letting him leave. And he's going to pay for what he's done to the police." That's what I heard.

Q: You were in the legislature at the time?

A: No, not inside -- I was outside. The National Assembly has been taken over by the police. And the police who were receiving this order, these instructions, were throwing up barricades at the entrance and around the legislature, and burning tires.

Q: Outside the hospital, what is the attitude of the people?

A: They're peaceful. The police have been called on not to clash with the people, but the police continue to behave aggressively. The important thing is that the people are resisting this, they're mobilising, but without inciting violence.

The violence is coming from the police themselves, not only here at the hospital, but in other parts of Quito, where the police are putting up barricades and burning tires and that kind of thing.

Q: Can you estimate how many people are there?

A: In the spot where I am, there are approximately 3,000 people. But they're along several streets leading up to the hospital. I was on another street, and it was filling up with people, so I think we're approaching 4,000 or 5,000 people.

Right now there are army helicopters (the helicopter blades can be heard clearly). The people are even waving to them. Because they are waiting for the army to arrive here. (The noise gets louder.) There are the helicopters. The people are asking them to come and rescue the president.

Q: Are there any representatives of the CONAIE (the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) among the demonstrators?

A: No. In fact, this morning, some of the leaders of the Pachakutik movement (the CONAIE's political expression) made statements that more or less backed the police, but then they stopped doing that.

The students and indigenous people, who are against the government, have not shown up in the demonstrations, as far as I can see. I basically see people who support Correa and others who support the police, or right-wing sectors that are mobilising, to support the police and egg on the coup.

Because this isn't just a problem of demands by the police. This, it seems, was very well planned. So well planned that the airports were taken over by a sector of the air force which, undoubtedly, has to do with the coup. Because there was no reason to suspend the flights at all of the country's airports.

Q: What happened to the helicopters? They flew over and left?

A: Two helicopters came by. They're flying over the area, but they're not coming. And the people are asking them to come and rescue the president. The commander of the armed forces said they back the president, but they're not moving. Quito is without police. There has been looting in some places. There are only private guards, but there's no army in the streets, for example. Nor has the army come here, to this place -- there have just been overflights by helicopters.

* Additional reporting by Constanza Vieira in Bogotá. (END)

Coup Attempt in Ecuador: Take Action

2010-10-01T18:47:00.000+10:00

Written by Various Authors

Thursday, 30 September 2010 21:34

Ecuador Solidarity Network: Attempted coup d'etat in Ecuador. Take Action.

Following a coordinated protest by police across Ecuador earlier
today, President Rafael Correa remains sequestered in the police
hospital in the capital city of Ecuador. Citizens are demonstrating in
the city centre and outside of the hospital to demand Correa's freedom
and the maintenance of democratic and constitutional order in the
country. Police are reportedly attacking the demonstration near the
hospital with heavy use of tear gas.

The government maintains that it will not negotiate with the police
until the President has been freed and have been denouncing the
measure as an attempted coup. The government alleges that sectors of
the Ecuadorian right wing, such as ex-President Lucio Gutierrez who
was deposed in a popular coup d'etat in April 2005, are behind today's
events. While the situation remains tense in the nation's capital,
police are reported to have largely gone back to work in other parts
of the country. A report from the Latin American Information Agency
about today's events has been translated below.

Civil society organizations, such as the Confederation of Indigenous
Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the National Confederation of
Campesino, Indigenous and Black Organizations (FENOCIN) along with
other sectors, are denouncing today's events. The CONAIE, which has
had a difficult relationship with the government of President Correa
in past years given differences over extractive industry expansion and
other state reforms, states that despite tensions over the country's
process of change they “will defend democracy and the rights of the
people” and “reject the actions of the right that in an undercover way
form part of the attempted coup d'état.” Their full press release is
included as an unofficial translation below.

The Organization of American States has rejected any attempt to alter
democratic order in Ecuador today and the US Department of State has
urged Ecuadorians “to work within the framework of Ecuador’s
democratic institutions to reach a rapid and peaceful restoration of
order.”

***

President Rafael Correa remains trapped inside of the police hospital in Quito

Ecuador: Attempted coup

Eduardo Tamayo G.

ALAI AMLATINA, 30/09/2010 – President Correa denounced that Ecuador is
experiencing an attempted coup organized by the opposition. Correa,
who is currently in the police hospital in Quito, recovering from
police aggression, denounced that various members of the police were
trying to enter his room, holding the police responsible for whatever
might happen.

Citizens demonstrated in the centre of Quito to support President
Correa where Foreign Affairs Mininster Ricardo Patiño called for the
President to be rescued from the police hospital.

Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces, Ernesto González,
declared his support for Correa and assured that the military remains
subordinate to the government's authority.

These moments of tension have come about in Ecuador following passage
of the Public Services Law in the National Assembly last night, over
which police from the Quito Regiment along with various police across
the country began protesting this morning. They are demanding that
various benefits, such as medals, bonuses and other benefits, not be
retracted. The government has responded saying that the police have
received substantial salary increases and that the bonuses, that will
allegedly be taken away, will be compensated for in their wages.

The protests led to serious incidents when President Rafael Correa was
attacked with tear gas by the police after arriving at the Quito\
Regiment at 9:30am in an attempt at dialogue. Correa, who is
recovering from a knee operation, spoke to the police saying, “If you
want to kill me, kill me.” In response, according to Correa's reports,
the police threw tear gas at him, causing him to fall on his knee,
after which he had to be supported by the shoulders into the police
hospital where he is currently (as of 12:30pm).

The police also took over the National Assembly building and attacked
assembly members along with one journalist from TeleAmazonas.

According to Radio La Luna, the assembly member who was attacked was
Linda Machuca. Assembly Member for Alianza País (Correa's Country
Alliance party) Paco Velasco indicated that the aggression against
assembly members is evidence of a conspiracy.

With police activities suspended, the streets, banks, airport, and
other areas were left unguarded. In Guayas province, the police
blocked the bridge that allows vehicle access to the city of
Guayaquil. The police also took to the streets of Guayaquil, burning
tires and interrupting traffic. Delinquents took advantage of the lack
of police vigilance to commit assaults and robberies in both Guayaquil
and the city of Cuenca.

Orlando Pérez, leader of the official political movement Alianza País,
said that ex-President Lucio Gutierrez is behind the conspiracy along
with his supporters in the Patriotic Society Party (PSP).

Assembly Member Cléver Jimenez, head of the indigenous Pachakutik
party, asked for President Correa to resign on behalf of the
Pachakutick party, and called for social movements to form a single
national front.

Groups of citizens demonstrated in the streets of Quito, gathering in
Independence Plaza in front of the Government's Palace. Later, they
moved toward the police hospital in northwest Quito to try to rescue
President Correa. Groups of police, in the area of the Quito Regiment
and elsewhere, attacked citizens that demonstrated support for Correa.

The former president of the National Assembly, Alberto Acosta,
indicated on Public Radio that this is the moment to reject this
attempted coup, wherever it comes from and that it is necessary to
sanction those who have carried out this abuse of power. Regardless of
whether the police are correct in their demands, he said, this is not
the appropriate way to protest. Citizens, he added, should mobilize in
the defense of democracy, as well as in defense of the life of the
President of the Republic.

For original in Spanish: http://alainet.org/active/41274

***

From the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE):

We call for unity among social organizations for a plurinational
peoples' democracy

Indigenous groups respond to attempted coup d'état in Ecuador

An unofficial translation of a press release from the Confederation of
Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, the CONAIE, on September 30,
2010.

A process of change, as weak as it may be, runs the risk of being
overturned or overtaken by the right, old or new, if it does not
establish alliances with organized social and popular sectors, and
deepen progressively.

The insubordination of the police, beyond their immediate demands,
lays bare at least four substantial things:

1. While the government has dedicated itself exclusively to attacking
and delegitimizing organized sectors like the Indigenous movement,
workers' unions, etc., it hasn't weakened in the least the structures
of power of the right, or those within the state apparatus, which has
become evident through the rapidity of the response from the public
forces.

2. The social crisis that was let loose today was also provoked by the
authoritarian character and the non-opening to dialogue in the
lawmaking process. We have seen how laws that were consensed around
were vetoed by the President of the Republic, closing any possibility
of agreement.

3. Faced with the criticism and mobilization of communities against
transnational mining, oil, and agro-industrial companies, the
government, instead of creating a dialogue, responds with violence and
repression, as occurred in Zamora Chinchipe.

4. This scenario nurtures the conservative sectors. Already various
sectors and people from the old right are asking for the overthrow of
the government and the instalation of a civil or military
dictatorship; but the new right, from inside and outside the
government, will use this context to justify their total alliance with
the most reactionary sectors and with emerging business interests.

The Ecuadorian Indigenous movement, CONAIE, with its regional
Confederations and its grassroots organizations states before
Ecuadorian society and the international community their rejection to
the economic and social policies of the government, and with the same
energy we reject the actions of the right that in an undercover way
form part of the attempted coup d'état, and to the contrary we will
continue to struggle for the construction of a Plurinational State
with a true democracy.

Consistent with the mandate of the communities, peoples and
nationalities and faithful to our history of struggle and resistance
against colonialism, discrimination and exploitation of those who are
below, of the poor, we will defend democracy and the rights of the
people: no concessions for the right.

In these critical moments, our position is:

1. We convene our bases to maintain themselves alert and ready to
mobilize in defense of true Plurinational democracy and against the
actions of the right.

2. We deepen our mobilization against the extractive model and the
imposition of large scale mining, the privatization and concentration
of water, and the expansion of the oil frontier.

3. We convene and join together with diverse organized sectors to
defend the rights of workers, affected by the arbitrariness which has
driven the legislative process, recognizing that they are making
legitimate demands.

4. We demand that the national government firmly depose every possible
concession to the right. We demand that the government abandons its
authoritarian attitude against the popular sectors, that they not
criminalize social protest and the persecution of leaders: the only
thing this type of politics provokes is to open spaces to the Right
and create spaces of destabilization.

The best way to defend democracy is to begin a true revolution that
resolves the most urgent and structural questions to the benefit of
the majority. On this path is the effective construction of the
Plurinational state and the immediate initiation of an agrarian
revolution and a de-privatization of water.

This is our position in this context and in this historical period.

Marlon Santi
PRESIDENT, CONAIE

Delfín Tenesaca
PRESIDENT, ECUARUNARI

Tito Puanchir
PRESIDENT, CONFENIAE

Olindo Nastacuaz
PRESIDENT, CONAICE

***

From ECUARUNARI:

Quito, September 30, 2010

In Latin America we have gone from bloody military dictatorship to the
dictatorship of transnational capital to neoliberalism. The sectors
that benefit from this have always been the same (bankers, commercial
entrepreneurs, landowners). And we the impoverished, Indigenous,
workers, men and women, have always been the victims, but we have
always been fighters who stand for democracy of the oppressed. With
this strength and legitimacy we reject any dictatorship from where
ever it comes.

The political crisis in Ecuador at this moment caused by the
insubordination of the police has been turned by police officers and
some military sectors into a coup attempt, behind which is undoubtedly
Ecuador's rightwing and the forces of imperialism.

We have no doubt that this political crisis is a right-wing reaction
against the 2008 Constitution, adopted by the affirmative vote of 64%
of Ecuadorians, and is therefore a clear threat to democracy,
Plurinationalism, and the Sumak Kawsay (living well).

In the geopolitical dimension it is also a threat to the Venezuelan
and Bolivian processes. It is not coincidental that reactionary
sectors of the country celebrated the attempts of destabilization in
the Venezuelan elections. They had this same attitude toward attempts
to overthrow the Bolivian government. Now the conservative sectors of
the country have been adding to these dictatorial attempts.

What is the position of the organized social sectors? The vast
majority of popular organizations that resist against dictatorship and
neo-liberalism of the pro-imperialist oligarchy in Ecuador, and
despite our deep disagreements with the national government that has
tried some of our leaders as terrorists, this is no reason to stand
with our historic enemies. Behind the protest of the police and their
wage claims is the claim of ignorance of the Constitution where we
recognize many of our proposals and historical struggles.

Rafael Correa's Citizen Revolution formed broad alliances with
right-wing groups in mining, oil, agribusiness, etc., and attacked and
persecuted popular left-wing organizations (especially the Indigenous
movement) which leaves those reactionary sectors free to act in this
way.

Leaving no room for confusion, our position is:

1. Reject the coup attempt and defend the Plurinational State.

2. We declare ourselves in permanent assemblies and alert to mobilize
in defense of plurinationalism.

3. As part of a plurinational democracy, the only revolutionary
alternative is to fight against supporters of the dictatorship, and to
deepen urgent changes in the process of agrarian revolution.

4. We gather ourselves in a large plurinational dialogue of all
Ecuadorians, in an atmosphere of peace and democracy to build a large
plurinational consensus as the best way to resolve the crisis
peacefully.

We have already suffered too much with dictatorships, Honduras still
hurts. No more dictatorship in Latin America.

For the Governing Council

Delfín Tenesaca
PRESIDENTE DE ECUARUNARI

***

In the US or Canada? Take Action!

For U.S. citizens who are concerned about today's events, please
consider taking action and write U.S. officials. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton has already released a statement in support of
President Correa. It is important that the U.S. government take a
strong stand in support of democracy in Ecuador:

To contact the State Department:
Fax: 202-647-0834, Voice: 202 647-4000

To contact Senators and Representatives:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, Assist. Sec. of State for Western Hemisphere
Affairs: ValenzuelaAA@state.gov and WHAAsstSecty@State.gov ; Ambassador
Craig Kelly, Principal Deputy Asst./ Secretary, Western Office of
Hemisphere Affairs: KellyC@state.gov (Fax: 202-647-0834)

To contact White House:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact and White House Comment Line 202-456-1414

cc: Ecuador Solidarity Network ecuadorsolidaritynetwork@gmail.com

Expressions of solidarity with the people of Ecuador may also be sent
to the following organizations:

ALAI, Latin American Information Agency, alai_ec@yahoo.com and alai@alainet.org

FENOCIN, the National Confederation of Campesino, Indigenous and Black
Organizations, fenocin@fenocin.org

CONAIE, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador,
info@conaie.org

cc: Ecuador Solidarity Network ecuadorsolidaritynetwork@gmail.com

**

For Canadian citizens who are concerned about today's events, please
consider writing to the Canadian Ambassador in Ecuador and Minister
Peter Kent:

Ambassador Andrew Shisko
Embassy of Canada in Ecuador
Av. Amazonas 4153 and Unión Nacional de Periodistas
Eurocenter Building, 3rd Floor
P.O. Box 17-11-6512 Quito - Ecuador
quito@international.gc.ca

Honourable Peter Kent, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas)
110 Justice Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-0253
Fax: (613) 992-0887
Email: kentp@parl.gc.ca

cc: Ecuador Solidarity Network ecuadorsolidaritynetwork@gmail.com

CRISIS IN ECUADOR: Police Mutiny Spurs State of Emergency

2010-10-01T18:45:00.000+10:00

Latin American Herald Tribune, Oct 1 2010
Ecuador's Presidente Rafael Correa was injured when rowdy protests by policemen turned into a full-blown crisis and the government declared a state of emergency in the face of what the head of state called an attempted coup. “Gentlemen, if you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill me if you want to, kill me if you have courage, instead of being in a crowd, hiding like cowards,” an indignant Correa told the police

QUITO – Rowdy protests by Ecuadorian police unhappy with changes to their pay and benefits turned into a full-blown crisis Thursday as cops besieged President Rafael Correa in a Quito hospital and the government declared a state of emergency in the face of what the head of state called an attempted coup.

Correa, who recently underwent knee surgery, entered the hospital after being injured when mutinous police accosted him and his bodyguards as they tried to leave the main police barracks in the capital after he addressed the disgruntled cops.

“Gentlemen, if you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill me if you want to, kill me if you have courage, instead of being in a crowd, hiding like cowards,” an indignant Correa told the police.

The president then entered the Metropolitan Military Hospital, next to the police barracks, to be treated for an injury to his leg.

He later told state radio by telephone that the mutinous police had surrounded the building and were effectively holding him hostage.

“It is an attempt at a coup d’etat by the opposition and by certain entrenched groups in the armed forces and police that were also there, basically the Sociedad Patriotica group,” Correa said, referring to the political party founded by former President Lucio Gutierrez.

Speaking by telephone from Brazil, Gutierrez, who took office in January 2003 and was ousted by Ecuador’s Congress in April 2005, denied any role in Thursday’s uprising.

Rebellious police also occupied the National Assembly and disturbances spread across Ecuador, prompting presidential aid Alexis Mera to declare a state of emergency giving the armed forces responsibility for both external and internal security.

The head of the armed forces Joint Command, Gen. Ernesto Gonzalez, went on television Thursday afternoon to call for an end to the mutiny.

“We invite the national police and sectors of civil society, as well as certain elements of the armed forces, to abandon their (aggressive) attitude,” he said.

At the same time, he urged that the legislation which sparked the police uprising “be reviewed or nullified.”

The military, Gonzalez said, is “subordinated to the national interest and also subordinated to the legal, legitimately constituted and maximum authority of the armed forces – the president of the republic.”

Hundreds of Correa partisans gathered in front of the presidential palace, where Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño appeared on a balcony to urge people to rescue Correa from the military hospital.

But when thousands of government supporters approached the hospital in an attempt to break the siege, police repeatedly drove them away with massive volleys of tear gas.

An Efe reporter also witnessed the cops firing rubber bullets at the crowd.

At least one person has died in the violence, Security Minister Miguel Carvajal said, while extending an offer of dialogue with the rebellious police if they stand down.

Inside the hospital, meanwhile, Correa was meeting with representatives of the disgruntled police, the official Andes news agency said.

The police were accompanied by an attorney and Finance Minister Patricio Rivera was also present, the agency said.

Leaders of individual Latin American countries issued statements deploring the uprising and expressing unconditional support for Correa, who first took office in early 2007 and was re-elected in a landslide in 2009 after securing ratification of a new constitution.

The 12-member Union of South American Nations, or UNASUR, convened an emergency summit for Friday in Argentina, whose government current occupies the bloc’s rotating presidency.

The presidents of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez; Bolivia, Evo Morales; Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; Peru, Alan Garcia; and Uruguay, Jose Mujica, confirmed that they would travel to Buenos Aires for the gathering.

At an emergency session in Washington, representatives of the Organization of American States unanimously approved a resolution repudiating any attempt to subvert the democratic order in Ecuador.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero telephoned Correa to convey Spain’s support for Ecuador’s democratic institutions and condemn the police mutiny, officials in Madrid told Efe. EFE

Ecuador declares emergency as police protest, president is attacked

2010-10-01T09:46:00.001+10:00

(CNN) -- Ecuador teetered on the verge of a government collapse Thursday, as national police took to the streets of Quito, the capital, and physically attacked the president over what police say was the cancellation of bonuses and promotions.

The government declared a one-week state of emergency Thursday afternoon and put the military in charge of security. The military said it will support the president and the nation's democratic institutions.

"This is a coup attempt," President Rafael Correa said in a TV interview a couple of hours after police lobbed tear gas at him.

Correa, who was forced to flee to a nearby hospital, said police were trying to get at him.

"They're trying to get into my room, maybe to attack me. I don't know," he said in a telephone interview with state-run Ecuador TV. "But, forget it. I won't relent. If something happens to me, remember my infinite love for my country, and to my family I say that I will love them anywhere I end up."

A video by CNN affiliate Ecuavisa later showed a defiant Correa standing at an upper floor window, shouting to a crowd of supporters, "If they want me, here I am," and then rapidly ripping his necktie loose

A broadcast by Ecuador TV showed mobs on the streets and clouds of black smoke coming from burning tires and garbage. Sporadic looting was reported.

Correa had taken to the streets to try to negotiate with police but was soon surrounded and jostled by a crowd and forced to flee after someone fired a tear gas canister at him. Some of those shoving him were police officers in full gear.

Video from CNN affiliate Teleamazonas shows a man in a tan suit punching Correa and trying to yank a gas mask off the president's face.

The broadcast then shows a hunched-over Correa being led away, his face still covered by the gas mask. Correa, who recently underwent knee surgery, leaned on a crutch with his left arm.

A news photograph later showed him lying on a stretcher.

A government helicopter had tried to evacuate him but was unable to land.

He went on the air from a hospital a couple of hours later to denounce what he called a cowardly attack.

"They fired gas on us -- on the president of the republic," Correa said in a telephone interview with Ecuador TV. "This is treason to the country, treason to their president."

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino led a large and boisterous pro-government rally at the Carondelet Palace, the president's home. He urged the crowd to take to the streets to peacefully "reject this coup" and "to rescue our president."

Said Patino, "We are not afraid of anyone."

Analysts pointed to the government's precariousness.

"This is the most serious protest that the government of Rafael Correa has faced," analyst Eduardo Gamarra told CNN en Español.

Rank-and-file police took over their agency's headquarters, Ecuador TV said.

There also were reports that the military had taken control of their bases and the airport.

Ecuador has nearly 58,000 members in its military and 33,000 in the national police force, according to Jane's Intelligence Review.

The military, Jane's said, is undergoing a professionalism transformation designed to give it greater flexibility.

The National Civil Police, meanwhile, is the nation's major law enforcement organization.

Government officials tried to quell the rebellion, insisting that the security forces had been misinformed and warning that the nation's democracy was in danger.

"I want to tell the country there has been an attempt at a coup," said Gabriel Rivera of the Country Accord Party.

"This is a Machiavellian plan organized by sectors of the right," Rivera said on Ecuador TV.

Miguel Carvajal, the minister for interior security, said there was no threat to salaries or benefits. He blamed the reports of the benefit cuts on a massive disinformation campaign.

"He who says that is lying," Carvajal said.

"We call on the citizens. We call on the armed forces. We call on other governments to defend our democratic institutions," he said.

A police spokesman went on the air on Teleamazonas to dispute the government's allegations, saying that the security forces were in fact supporting Correa.

"Fellow officers who hear me nationally, stop this action," said the spokesman, identified only as Sgt. Mejia. "Don't close the streets. Return to the streets to work."

The disturbances occurred as Correa threatened to dissolve the national assembly over a dispute about several laws, including public service and education.

Angry police said they were overworked and underpaid.

"We work 14 hours a day," a uniformed officer said on Ecuador TV. "We are the ones who never protest."

Said another: "One hour without police. Let's see what happens."

Diego Borja, director of the central bank, went on the air to urge calm and for people to take care.

"The police are not protecting the people. They are protesting," he said. "There could be problems."

He also sought to prevent a run on deposits.

"The money is safe," he said. "But be careful if making large withdrawals."

Peru closed its border with Ecuador, and messages of support for Correa came from 10 Latin American nations: Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba and Honduras. The Organization of American States also voted to support Correa

The support from Honduras came a little over a year after a military-led coup toppled the democratically elected president there. Correa had criticized that coup, as did most nations in the world. Honduras has held elections since then and elected a president.

Ecuador declares state of emergency as protesting police throw country into chaos

2010-10-01T09:45:00.001+10:00

BY JIM WYSS AND FRANCES ROBLES

jwyss@MiamiHerald.com

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Ecuador declared a state of emergency as protesting policemen shutdown the international airport, burned tires in the street and sent President Rafael Correa to the hospital after he was overcome by tear gas.

Speaking to the Telesur network from his hospital room, Correa said police were trying to break into his room.

``The worst that can happen is that they kill me, and that's a price I'm willing to pay to make sure these types of barbarities never happen again,'' he said before quoting lines from poet Pablo Neruda. ``They can cut down the flowers, but they can't stop the spring.''

Correa said the rebellious policeman were working with ``conspirators'' in congress to overthrow him.

Security Minister Miguel Carvajal said the armed forces were backing the government and he said the vast majority of the police were still loyal to the president.

As hundreds of supporters gathered in front of the presidential palace, foreign minister Ricardo Patiño told the group to head to the police hospital to defend the president.

``You are the only guarantee that this attempted coup does not happen,'' he said. ``Let's all go together and rescue the president of all Ecuadoreans.''

Local news media said police were trying to keep the marchers from making their way to the building.

The Organization of American States has called an emergency session to deal with the crisis.

Police took to the streets Thursday after congress passed a law Wednesday that might affect their bonuses. Security Minister Carvajal tried to reassure the military and the police saying the new law would not impact their salaries.

Local media said the police swarmed the Mariscal Sucre international airport in the capital of Quito and burned tires. There were reports of looting in the capital and the coastal city of Guayaquil.

A group of police officers later urged officers to return to their patrols and concentrate their protests at their respective stations.

``We are ready to cover the needs of the citizenry,'' an unnamed police officer said at a press conference aired on Venezuelan TV. ``Citizens: we are not against you. Nor are we against the president. On the contrary: we are with you. We urge you to rescind this decree.''

Legislator María Agusta Calle told CNN en Español that right wing forces led by former President Lucio Gutiérrez were behind the protest. The police, she said, had misinterpreted the new law which offers many increases in benefits but seeks to shield the government from the economic burden caused by promotions.

``Since he was elected president, forces have been trying to remove him,'' Calle said. ``Today they had a bit of results, but they will not reach their objective.''

Earlier in the day, when Correa went to confront one group of police, he was shouted down and tear-gassed, local media said. Images on Telesur showed Correa -- who was on crutches due to knee surgery last week -- being shoved around as he wore a gas mask.

He defiantly told the crowd, ``If you want to kill me, Here I am!''

Correa -- a populist and ally of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez -- has been wrestling with an unruly congress and growing opposition to his government. Last month, former journalist Carlos Vera began collecting signatures to force his recall.

On his Twitter account, Chavez came out in Correa's defense.

``They are trying to topple president Correa. Be on alert countries of the Bolivarian Alliance!!'' he wrote. ``Long live Correa!!''

Correa has suggested he will dissolve congress and rule by decree until new elections can be called.

The small Andean nation -- best known for its banana exports and the Galapagos islands -- has a history of political unrest. From 1997 to 2005, three Ecuadorean presidents were either overthrown or impeached.

``These types of actions today correspond to our past,'' Vice President Lenin Moreno said on Ecuadorean television. ``This is not a sign of the present.''

Coup Attempt in Ecuador Is a Result of Sec. Clinton's Cowardice in Honduras

2010-10-01T09:42:00.000+10:00

September 30, 2010 at 5:49 pm

By Al Giordano, Narcosphere

Oh, crap. Another year, another coup in Latin America. And while today's attempt by police forces in Ecuador went so far as to fire tear gas at elected president Rafael Correa, the military brass in the South American country have sided with the democratic order - its top general is on TV right now strongly backing the elected government - and this one isn't likely to go as well for the anti-democracy forces as last year's did in Honduras.

First, because the Ecuadorean people are far more advanced in social and community organization than their counterparts in Honduras were last year. Second, because the events last year in Honduras caused other center-left governments in the hemisphere to prepare for what everybody saw would be more coup attempts against them in more countries.

Additionally, we can expect in the coming hours that the police leaders responsible for todays events - you don't need to understand Spanish to get a pretty good idea of what went down this morning by watching the above video - will be rounded up and brought to justice, as would happen in any other country, including the United States.

But, kind reader, do you know why this is even happening? Because the same unholy alliance of Latin American oligarchs who can't stomach the rising wave of democracy in their countries - from the ex-Cubans of Miami to the ex-Venezuelans and others who have joined them in recent years - along with international crime organizations seeking new refuges and members of extreme rightist groups in the United States and elsewhere, saw their scheme work in 2009 in Honduras and took note of how quickly, after US President Barack Obama denounced the Honduras coup, his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began playing both sides of it.

It was this newspaper, through reporter Bill Conroy's investigations, that broke the story last August that the State Department-controlled Millennium Challenge Corporation had poured extraordinary amounts of money into Honduras in the months leading up to the June 29, 2009 coup d'etat. And in story after story, we demonstrated with documented fact how Clinton's Millennium Challenge Corporation went so far as to violate the ban on US aid to the Honduran coup regime. Clinton's later endorsement of farcical presidential elections and her over-reaching attempts to pretend nothing had happened in Honduras are precisely the signals that were received by today's coup plotters in Ecuador when they made a run at toppling the democratic government there.

At present, thankfully, the coup in Ecuador seems more likely to fail than to succeed. And there will be hell to pay for those behind it. But it didn't have to get that far. That only happened because, last year, the US Secretary of State pulled off a kind of "silent coup" in US foreign policy while her commander in chief was buried with the urgent domestic tasks stemming off economic collapse and, as everyone knows, small nations get little attention almost always anyway.

This time, the White House would do well to put a much shorter leash on its Secretary of State, because her horrendous and unforgivable anti-democratic behavior regarding the Honduras coup only fueled, and continues to fuel, understandable speculation that if the United States doesn't walk its talk about opposing coups d'etat, then it must have been an active participant in plotting it. The mishandling of the Honduras situation last year did lasting damage to President Obama's stated hopes to turn the page in US relations with its closest neighbors after decades of abuse and neglect. A single misstep by Secretary Clinton today and in the future regarding the events in Ecuador, like those she repeatedly made regarding Honduras, now that the hemispheric coup plotters have moved from Central America to larger South America, will further erode the cause of democracy in the entire hemisphere. I don't trust her. Nobody south of the border does. And nor should you, Mr. President.

Police in Ecuador lead protest, president says rivals plotting coup

2010-10-01T09:41:00.001+10:00

Hugh Bronstein and Alexandra Valencia, Globe and Mail

Police protesters attacked Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in an eruption of political unrest over austerity measures on Thursday, leaving the leftist leader holed up in a hospital with demonstrators outside.

Mr. Correa told local media by phone that police protesters were hunting for him in the building and would be responsible if he was hurt. Some of the president’s supporters then descended on the hospital and hurled stones at police outside.

Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino had called on supporters to march with him to save their trapped leader.

“President Correa has said that there are people trying to get in from the roof and attack him,” Mr. Patino told a large crowd outside the presidential palace. “I want to invite the brave people here below to go with us to rescue the president.”

Ecuador, an OPEC member of 14 million people, has a history of political instability. Street protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the decade before Mr. Correa took power.

Mr. Correa, a socialist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said his rivals were plotting a coup against him, and that he and his wife were stunned by an exploding tear gas canister as he tried to speak to demonstrators.

Visibly furious, he earlier confronted police demonstrating at the planned budget cuts and challenged them: “Kill me if you want to. Kill me if you have the courage.”

As the chaotic scenes unfolded, scores of soldiers took over the main international airport, which was closed to flights, while uniformed police burned tires and blocked some roads in protest at a proposal to cut their bonuses.

Witnesses said there was looting in Quito and in Guayaquil city, and many workers and school students were sent home.

State oil company Petroecuador said operations were unaffected and troops had boosted security at its oil fields.

Messages of support for Mr. Correa flowed in from abroad, with the Organization of American States and the governments of Venezuela, Chile, Argentina and others backing his government.

Venezuela’s government said Mr. Correa spoke to Mr. Chavez by telephone from the Quito hospital and that Mr. Correa had confirmed that the unrest was a coup attempt against him.

Mr. Correa is looking at the option of dissolving Congress, where members of his own left-wing party are blocking legislative proposals aimed at cutting state costs.

Ecuador’s two-year-old constitution allows the president to declare a political impasse, dissolve Congress and rule by decree until a new presidential and parliamentary election can be held. The measure would, however, have to be approved by the Constitutional Court to take effect.

Police apparently led the protests on Thursday but some soldiers joined in solidarity.

“We are demanding that the president revoke the military service law,” one soldier at the airport told Reuters, asking not to be named. “If he doesn’t, protests will continue.”

Police in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil protested at their headquarters. Officers in Guayaquil also blocked some roads leading to the coastal city, Ecuador’s most populous.

“Respect our rights,” the uniformed officers shouted.

Armed forces’ head Ernesto Gonzalez said troops remained loyal to Mr. Correa. “We are in a state of law. We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president,” he told reporters.

Central bank chief Diego Borja called for calm and urged Ecuadoreans not to withdraw money from banks.

Peru closed its border with neighbouring Ecuador.

More than half the 124-member Congress is officially allied with Mr. Correa, but the president has blasted lawmakers from his own Country Alliance party for not going along with his proposals for shrinking the country’s bureaucracy.

Mr. Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, was first elected in 2006 promising a “citizens’ revolution” aimed at increasing state control of Ecuador’s natural resources and fighting what he calls the country’s corrupt elite.

His government alienated international capital markets when it defaulted on $3.2-billion (U.S.) in global bonds two years ago. Mr. Correa declared the debt “illegitimate.”

Cash has been tight since then as the country relies on multilateral loans and bilateral lending to meet its international financing needs.

“The [government] finally realizes that maybe their current spending could not continue but they don’t really have a Plan B, nothing to cover shortfalls given the lack of investor friendly policies,” said Roberto Sanchez-Dahl, portfolio manager at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Correa is renegotiating contracts with oil companies in a bid to increase state revenues. But the talks have gone slowly while the government threatens to take over the operations of companies that do not sign the new pacts. Private firms working in Ecuador include Spain’s Repsol, Brazil’s Petrobras and Italy’s Eni.

After taking power, Mr. Correa backed the rewriting of the constitution to tilt the balance of power toward the executive. He easily won re-election under the new constitution in 2009, and he is allowed to stand again in 2013.

Ecuador declares state of emergency amid 'coup attempt'

2010-10-01T09:34:00.002+10:00

BBC News

Mr Correa was forced to flee a protest at a barracks when tear gas was fired by angry troops

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 earlier forced to flee a protest in the capital, Quito, after tear gas was fired. Troops took over the main airport, forcing it to close.

Unrest was reported in several towns, as Peru closed its border with Ecuador.

The protesters are angry at a new law passed on Wednesday that ends bonuses and other benefits for public servants.

“Start Quote

If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill him, if you want to. Kill him if you are brave enough”

End Quote Rafael Correa President of Ecuador

In pictures: Ecuadorean protests

On Thursday morning, members of the armed forces and police angry at the austerity measures occupied several barracks and set up road blocks across Ecuador to demand they 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.

Ecuador has a history of political instability

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."

“Start Quote

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”

End Quote Gen Luis Ernesto Gonzalez Villarreal Chief of Armed Forces Joint Command

"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."

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 protesters carried signs demanding the government give more respect to the military over benefits, witnesses told the Reuters news agency.

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."

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

One BBC News website reader in Guayaquil said three of the city's banks had been robbed, and described Ecuador as a "disaster zone".

"We don't know what will happen," he said. "There are no law enforcement agencies working. You can't go out in the streets."

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez appealed to the people of South America to defend his fellow leader, while Peruvian President Alan Garcia ordered his nation's border with Ecuador closed until Mr Correa's "democratic authority" was re-established.

The US state department said it was "closely monitoring" the situation.

Members of Mr Correa's left-wing party have threatened to block proposals to shrink the country's bureaucracy, prompting him to consider disbanding Congress and ruling by decree until new elections.

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.

Ecuador in turmoil amid 'coup attempt'

2010-10-01T09:33:00.001+10:00

By Alexander Martinez (AFP)

QUITO — Ecuador was plunged into crisis Thursday as troops seized the main airport and police stormed the Congress, forcing the government to declare a state of emergency and denounce an attempted coup.

About 150 renegade troops seized a runway at Ecuador's international airport in the capital of the South American nation, as dozens of police protested against a new law which would strip them of some pay bonuses.

President Rafael Correa, 47, a leftist ally of his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez, swiftly denounced what he called a coup bid, and sought refuge in a hospital after failing to calm tensions in an occupied barracks.

"It is a coup attempt led by the opposition and certain sections of the armed forces and the police," Correa, who has governed the country since 2007, told local television.

"If anything happens to me, they will be responsible," he added, blaming sections of the opposition and troops loyal to former president Lucio Gutierrez for the unrest.

As tear gas was used on the streets of the capital to try to beat back crowds of police protestors, the government declared a state of emergency.

Security Minister Miguel Carvajal told reporters the armed forces "have received instructions to maintain public order and guarantee the rights of citizens."

He added that "not all the police are in insubordination" despite the wave of unrest.

Dozens of police units took over government buildings in the country's other two main cities, Guayaquil and Cuenca, and Foreign Minister Ricardo Pitino blamed the insurrection on "sectors aiming to overthrow the government."

The unrest, which recalled a coup which overthrew the elected president in Honduras last year, rocked Ecuador's neighbors with many leaders swiftly coming out in his support, while Peru closed their joint border.

The United States said it was "closely monitoring" the events, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged all sides to refrain from violence.

Correa has vowed he will not bow in face of the protests, as the army chief threw his weight behind the Ecuadoran leader and vowed to restore order.

"No, I will not step back, if they want to seize the barracks, if they want to leave the citizens defenseless and betray their mission," Correa told soldiers from Quito's main regiment earlier when he sought to calm tensions.

Army chief Ernesto Gonzalez threw his full support behind Correa, who was said to be considering dissolving Congress and holding snap elections to resolve the political crisis.

"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," Gonzalez told a press conference.

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

Dozens of Correa supporters were meanwhile descending on the hospital where he had sought refuge, vowing to rescue him. "Down with the coup, down with the enemies of the people," they chanted.

The leftist Correa was re-elected last year to a second term as president of the country of some 14.5 million people, which is bordered by Colombia and Peru.

International election observers at the time criticized Correa's "dominant" media presence in the run up to the vote, which they said had damaged the poll's fairness.

Since first taking power in 2007, Correa has proven controversial because of his close ties to regional leftists like Chavez.

The US-educated economist took a tough stance with investors and refused to repay foreign debt, in moves welcomed by supporters who blamed the effects of the economic crisis on foreign liberalism.

His reelection was seen as giving some stability to the world's top banana exporter that has seen three of its previous presidents -- between 1996 and 2006 -- ousted before the end of their terms.

And Correa promised to pursue social programs funded by oil wealth in the OPEC nation where 38 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

OAS meets to discuss Ecuador's situation as Argentina, Perú call for UNASUR meeting

2010-10-01T09:31:00.000+10:00

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) began an extraordinary session in which members approved a resolution project in order to "decidedly support the constitutional government" of Ecuador.

The meeting began at 3:05 pm (local time) and gathered representatives of neighbouring countries belonging to the hemispheric organization, in a meeting convened due to the police and military protests in the Andean country.

The resolution "repudiates any intent of altering the democratic institutionalism of Ecuador" and makes "an energetic call to Ecuador's public force and political sectors to avoid any type of violent acts that could generate a situation of political instability."

The meeting began with a review of the events that have occurred in the last few hours in Ecuador on behalf of its ambassador before the OAS, María Isabel Salvador, who assured that these "cannot, in any way, be considered as simple union acts or public protests."

The resolution, which was presented to the Council by Peruvian Ambassador Hugo de Zela, is cosponsored by 17 Latin American countries and was immediately approved.

In addition, Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Peruvian President Alan García agreed to hold a meeting with UNASUR foreign ministers in Piura, which borders Ecuador, to show support for Rafael Correa's democratic government after the attempted coup d'etat.

"I told Fernández de Kirchner about the idea of meeting with UNASUR foreign ministers in order to show as much support as possible for Ecuador and help in whatever way necessary," said García from the government headquarters after he spoke via telephone with Fernández de Kirchner.

"This is a painful event," led by the violent groups that still remain active in Latin America, said García.

He also mentioned "the energetic rejection from the part of the Peruvian government towards any institutional rupture."

Protesting police throw Ecuador into chaos

2010-10-01T09:30:00.001+10:00

By TATIANA COBA (AP)

QUITO, Ecuador — The government declared a state of siege Thursday after rebellious police angered by a law that cuts their benefits plunged this small South American nation into chaos, roughing up the president, shutting down airports and blocking highways in a nationwide strike.

Incensed officers shoved President Rafael Correa around and pelted him with tear gas and water when he tried to speak at a police barracks in the capital. Correa, 47, was hospitalized from the effects of the gas.

The state of siege puts the military in charge of public order, suspending civil liberties and allowing soldiers to carry out searches without a warrant.

Hundreds of officers involved in the insurrection took over police barracks in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. They also set up roadblocks out of burning tires that cut off highway access to the capital.

Schools shut down in Quito and many businesses closed due to the absence of police protection that left citizens and businesses vulnerable to crime.

Looting was reported in the capital — where at least two banks were sacked — and in the coastal city Guayaquil. That city's main newspaper, El Universo, reported assaults on supermarkets and robberies due to the absence of police.

As he confronted the protesters, Correa was agitated but firm.

"If you want to kill the president, here he is! Kill me!" he told them before limping away with the aid of a cane as an aide fitted a gas mask over his face. Correa's right knee was operated on just last week.

There were no reports of serious violence against the government, but Correa called the unrest "an attempted coup by the opposition," speaking by telephone from a hospital room where he said he was hooked to an intravenous drip.

His leftist ally, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said in a Twitter message that "they are trying to oust President Correa."

Other leaders in the region expressed firm support for Correa, while the Organization of American States met in special session in Washington, D.C., to discuss the crisis.

Peru's president, Alan Garcia, announced that he was shutting the country's border with Ecuador until Correa's "democratic authority" was re-established.

The protest appeared to have arisen spontaneously. There was no immediate evidence it was organized by the opposition and no protest leaders emerged to denounce the government.

The striking police were angered by a law passed by Congress on Wednesday that would end the practice of giving members of Ecuador's military and police medals and bonuses with each promotion. It would also extend from five to seven years the usual period required for before a subsequent promotion.

"They are a bunch of ungrateful bandits," Correa said of the protesters. "No one has supported the police as much as this government," he told reporters.

The law needs to be published before it takes effect and that has not happened.

The U.S. Embassy issued a message warning U.S. citizens "of a "nationwide strike by all levels of police, including military police." It warned them to "stay in their homes or current location, if safe."

The Quito newspaper La Hora quoted the armed forces chief, Luiz Gonzalez, as saying that the military was loyal to Correa. However the National Assembly building was occupied by striking police.

A crowd of hundreds of Correa supporters gathered outside.

The president's policy coordination minister, Doris Soliz, asked Ecuadoreans to be calm and support the government.

"This is an act of indiscipline that is going to be controlled. It is being controlled," she said. "The military chiefs are completely supporting democracy."

Air force troops shut down the Quito's Mariscal Sucre airport as the protests commenced Thursday morning. An airport official who refused to give her name said its "operations have been suspended."

The airport's president, Philippe Baril, told a local radio station that 300 troops had occupied runways, forcing flight cancelations. About 700 passengers were stranded, he said.

The U.S. Embassy said Guayaquil's airport was also closed.

Dozens of Correa supporters marched toward the city center to support him.

Traditionally unstable politically, this nation of 14 million has seen relative peace and stability since Correa, a U.S.-trained economist allied with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, took office in January 2007.

Associated Press photographer Dolores Ochoa in Quito and AP writer Frank Bajak in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report.

Ecuador thrown into chaos as police and troops take over airport

2010-10-01T09:29:00.002+10:00

President Rafael Correa in showdown with protesters angry at new law that cuts their benefits

Ecuador's president Rafael Correa speaks to a demonstrator during the protest. Photograph: Dolores Ochoa/AP

Police and military units stormed the airport in Ecuador's capital and burned tyres in front of their bases today in a chaotic rebellion over austerity measures that cut their benefits.

Scores of uniformed men overran the landing strip at Quito's main airport, forcing flights to be cancelled, and others confronted the president, Rafael Correa, in a dramatic showdown at a police regimental barracks.

Correa challenged the protesters to kill him, according to local media. "I'm not taking one step back. Gentleman, if you want to kill the president, here he is, kill him if you have the guts." The rebel officers responded with shouts, stones and teargas canisters, prompting Correa's bodyguards to spirit him from the scene.

The protests rapidly spread to bases and barracks in three provinces, with witnesses reporting looting, compounding a political crisis that could prompt the president to dissolve parliament and rule by decree until elections.

There was no indication that Correa faced assassination, nor that the government would fall. The head of the armed forces, Ernesto Gonzalez, said troops remained loyal to Correa. "We are in a state of law. We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president."

The foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, played down the severity of the protests. "This is not a popular mobilisation, it is not a popular uprising, it is an uprising by the police, who are ill-informed," he told TV network Telesur. The central bank chief, Diego Borja, called for calm.

Ecuador has a tradition of protests but to see about 150 mutinous members of the air force swarm through Quito's Mariscal Sucre international airport was a first.

The action was followed by hundreds of soldiers and police in Quito and the commercial capital, Guayaquil, who blocked roads, lit tyres and fired teargas. "Respect our rights!" some shouted. "Long civil war!" shouted others.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and the president showed no sign of backing down. "They are a bunch of ungrateful bandits. No one has supported the police as much as this government," he told reporters.

The protests were triggered by a law passed by congress yesterday on Wednesday that would end the practice of giving medals and bonuses with each promotion. It would also extend from five to seven years the usual period required for promotions. The law needs to be published before it takes effect.

Correa is a US-trained economist who has tried to slim Ecuador's bureaucracy. His own party, the Country Alliance, opposed the austerity measures, prompting his threat to dissolve congress.

The two-year-old constitution allows the president to declare a political impasse and dissolve the assembly until a presidential and parliamentary election. The measure needs constitutional court approval. "This is a scenario that nobody would want, but it is a possibility when the conditions for change do not exist," said Doris Solis, a minister.

Correa, who has a Belgian wife, was elected in 2006 promising a "citizens' revolution" to spread benefits of oil, gas and other revenues to the poor in Andean mountains, Amazon forests and Pacific coast slums. He defaulted on a $2.8bn (£1.8bn) debt, calling it illegitimate, and boosted spending on education and health.

He was re-elected under the new constition last year but since then public sector workers and indigenous groups, among others, have accused him of breaking promises.

Ecuador declares emergency as police protest, president is attacked

2010-10-01T09:26:00.000+10:00

By Arthur Brice, CNN

September 30, 2010 -- Updated 2044 GMT (0444 HKT)

Ecuador police riot

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The government declares a state of emergency
The president was led away in a gas mask after police lobbed tear gas at him
"This is treason to the country," says President Rafael Correa
Protesting police say the government canceled bonuses and promotions

RELATED TOPICS

Ecuador

(CNN) -- Ecuador teetered on the verge of a government collapse Thursday, as national police took to the streets of Quito, the capital, and physically attacked the president over what police say was the cancellation of bonuses and promotions.

"This is a coup attempt," President Rafael Correa said in a TV interview a couple of hours after police lobbed tear gas at him.

Correa, who was forced to flee to a nearby hospital, said police were trying to get at him.

Ecuador map