Ecuador political crisis deepens--State of Emergency declared

[whirlygigspin]

Saturday, 16 April, 2005, 05:27 GMT 06:27 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4451007.stm

Ecuador's President Lucio Gutierrez has fired the Supreme Court and declared a state of emergency in the capital.

Speaking on television, Mr Gutierrez said he had taken the drastic measures in order to maintain calm and stability in the country.

The crisis began in December, when Mr Gutierrez first fired the Supreme Court, alleging that the magistrates were biased against him. (sound familiar? hi Rick Santorum)

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. If ricky ain't careful there, he may see that image here

by the way, them tires do burn hot

[saigon68]

3. They burn VERY VERY HOT.

They even start the ASPHALT on fire.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. I know, I know and that damn foam really does jack or

you know the rest to it

[Hapameli]

2. This is insane...nm

[sandnsea]

4. Chavez did it

Gutierrez is just learning how its done. If Bush packs our courts with a bunch of loons, we may have to do a little firing of our own one day.

What a mess.

[Minstrel Boy]

7. Chavez did what?

Chavez has not.

He expanded the Supreme Court through legislation. He did not declare a state of emergency and fire the judges.

[Judi Lynn]

8. When you say we may have to do a little firing of our own one day

presumably in connection to your claim Hugo Chavez stacked the Supreme Court, it may be you're actually thinking of the fact Pedro Carmona Estanga dissolved the Venezuelan Supreme Court, the Venezuelan Parliament, and suspended the Venezuelan Constitution during the day he imagined he was King of Venezuela during the _Bush-backed coup.

He would have then replaced everyone along lines more favorable to the Venezuelan opposition.



What a pile of crap. He's the one the opposition media does NOT mock and call an "ape" and "monkey." He's not tainted by Indian and African blood, in their view. Just nicely European descended.

He was just getting his swagger down, too. Poor, poor former oilman, Pedro Carmona.

I have NEVER found anything which explains Chavez has stacked the Supreme Court. If you have a link to some bonafide information, it would be a real benefit if you shared it with DU'ers. Otherwise, we'll simply have to go with our own understanding that everything Hugo Chavez has done has been completely in keeping with the Venezuelan Constitution.

[flordehinojos]

6. i hope/pray that this is not a foretelling of something that could happen

here!

[VirginiaDem]

9. Ecuador has a long tradition of "couping" their duly elected

presidents. I believe it was Ibarra who won the presidency six times and never once finished his term, believe it or not. Gutierrez is all but gone--there's no way he'll survive this because the military has no special need for him. This is down to a matter of weeks, I expect, rather than months. I lived in Ecuador for a year and a half and know some people who know some people (which is the way information moves down there). It's actually rather slimy on both sides--the judges who originally got fired were no group of angels. Those positions were pretty much all purchased rather than earned.

[bemildred]

10. Yup, that's sort of my read. A thieves argument.

I've been wondering when Gutierrez would get the heave-ho.
He's been way overdue for a while now.

(Thanks for your input BTW.)

[Pallas180]

11. Ecuador President Dissolves Supreme Court

Ecuador President Dissolves Supreme Court

Saturday, April 16, 2005 9:08 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By MONTE HAYES

President Lucio Gutierrez declared a state of emergency in the capital city of this Andean Mountain country and dissolved a Supreme Court he and his allies had appointed last winter, saying the unpopular judges were the cause of three days of pot-banging street protests in Quito.

Although they had opposed the court that was stacked by Gutierrez, his political foes immediately labeled its summary dissolution an act of a dictator.

[Pallas180]

12. Shades of things to come ?

Wondering who gave who the idea?

[rock]

13. What's Scalia and the rest gonna do now?

Nobody would hire them!

[dArKeR]

14. Ecuador President Dissolves Supreme Court

The court crisis was set in motion in November when the former justices sided with opposition politicians in a failed effort to impeach Gutierrez on corruption charges. Gutierrez then assembled a bloc of 52 lawmakers in the 100-seat unicameral congress, which voted in December to remove the judges. Legal experts said the vote ran contrary to Ecuador's constitution.

Opponents say Gutierrez cut a deal with former President Abdala Bucaram to stack the Supreme Court and clear Bucaram of corruption charges as payback for key votes Bucaram's political party provided last year blocking the impeachment drive against Gutierrez in congress.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050416/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/ecuador_emergency

What is the difference between "Bush type Democracy" and Communism? NOTHING!

[Pachamama]

15. I was in Equador in late 90's when they oustered 2 Prez's & at one point I

think they didn't have a President! The square in front of the Presidential quarters in Quito isn't that big...there's a great Bar/Coffee House on the corner near the square. Bet its interesting there right now!

The people of Equador are wonderful people...especially the natives...they have seen so much corruption in their government over the years that their tolerance is not very high for bullshit...They have seen what their "President" is doing and his dangerous attempts to dismantle their courts and they won't stand by and let him do it...

Americans should pay attention...* and the GOP are trying to do the same to our Judicial Branch, the only reason they haven't fired our US Judges is because the Constitution has protections in place to prevent something so blatant....so instead, they are trying to do their "nuclear" option...

I have spoken with many people I know, and they have flat out said that if the GOP led by Frist and Bush try to implement the nuclear option and get rid of the filibuster, that they will be outside protesting and even fly to Washington...

I don't think that Frist or the GOP or Bush understand that people have had enough....

How far do they want to push the American public before there are riots and mass protests here? :eyes:

[dArKeR]

16. All people are good. The corruption lies in Governments, militaries,

corporations and mafias in their persuit for wealth and power. If you could somehow separate "people" from the above the world would be a different place.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Background on the President.

Equador's Turbulent History of US-Backed Governments

The recent turbulent political history of Ecuador can be seen from the following, bearing in mind that each constitutional presidential term is four years:

Abdala Bucaram, 1996-1997 (Six Months)

Fabian Alarcon, 1997-1998 (Interim President)

Jamil Mahuad, 1998-2000

Gustavo Noboa (2000-2003)

Lucio Gutiérrez (current)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Current Regime

Gutiérrez is a former Army colonel who led an armed rebellion against the then Mahaud regime. In 1999, he was seen by many as a second Hugo Chávez but soon proved himself to be another puppet of US imperialism. Within ten days of his election in 2003 he visited George W. Bush in Washington and effectively sold out to US economic and geopolitical interests. Ecuador's fragile economy is now under firm control of the IMF austerity program after an additional loan of US$205 million from the IMF was granted. In line with neoliberal economic policies, basic services were privatized which sent costs soaring and plunged 80% of the population into even greater poverty. Ecuador is currently negotiating a free trade pact with the US - the sardine and shark syndrome.
(snip)

The "Threat" of Democracy in Ecuador

The installation of a Bolivarian administration in Ecuador would effectively isolate Alvaro Uribe in Colombia and could lead to a domino effect in Peru and Bolivia. Both have large indigenous - and some would say radicalized - populations. They are only too aware of the success of the Bolivarian Revolution taking place in Venezuela. Heinz Dieterich concludes on this scenario that a regional block of four countries in the Andean region, excluding Colombia, would render the Monroe Doctrine completely ineffective. In the author's opinion, this scenario would also "break the back" of the regionalization of Plan Colombia at the same time.

According to Dieterich, Washington needs to get rid of Gutiérrez to offset the risk of a Bolivarian government eventually coming to power in Ecuador. However, with a smooth transition, the constitutional order intact, and vice-president Alfredo Palacios taking over, Washington and the local oligarchy could consolidate their hold over the country. This is especially so considering Washington's transnational interests, especially in Petroecuador. This may also be the case since the opposition forces do not as yet have enough cohesion to mount an effective challenge to the established order. With Gutiérrez living at his apartment in New York, the main symbol of discontent would be "out of sight and out of mind".
(snip)

http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=90&num=15905&printer=1




Gutierrez and some guys

[Robbien]

18. I wonder how much of this current unrest is the doing of BushCo

As long as the country is unsettled it has very little time to join a coalition with other Latin American countries.

See this Prensa article for a different take on this dismissal of the court without the US propaganda filter:
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BF5ADB402-5472-4D20-89AF-E67359EE90E6%7D&language=EN


Quito, Apr 16 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador´s President Lucio Gutierrez decided to dissolve the Supreme Court he appointed last December, as he declared a state of emergency in this country.

In an attempt to end a political crisis, the president called to session and dismissed the entire 31-member Supreme Court, in a controversial decision allegedly based on the argument that unpopular judges were the cause of the three-day street protests here.

In a surprise television address to the nation, former army colonel Gutierrez declared the city in a state of emergency, restricting the rights of assembly and expression.

The appointment of new judges would make the country"s highest court fairer and more representative, Gutierrez stated.

Thousands of people have staged demonstrations against the government in Quito in recent days, and despite the latest measure, thousands of people continued pouring into the streets Friday to protest.

It was the second time Ecuador"s Supreme Court has been fired in four months.

In December, a short-lived pro-government congressional majority dismissed an earlier court at the behest of Gutierrez, who argued it was biased against him.

Gutierrez was elected president in November 2002 after campaigning as a populist, anti-corruption reformer.

But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart after he instituted austerity measures, including cutting subsidies on food and cooking fuel, to satisfy lenders like the International Monetary Fund.

Although they had opposed the court that was stacked by Gutierrez, his political foes immediately labeled the summary dissolution an act of a dictator.

[Judi Lynn]

19. No doubt you're right.If he can't control the country,he's useless to Bush

and right-wing control freaks in the States WOULD want to get someone tougher on the poor in there, to claim the place for the U.S.



Can't afford it falling into the hands of the people who LIVE there!

[Moderator]

20. Robbien

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[bemildred]

21. Ecuador's Gutierrez Revokes State of Emergency (Update1)

Woooooops, let try a do-over.

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez revoked a state of emergency he declared last night as thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital of Quito, calling on him to resign, CRE Radio reported.

Gutierrez called on Congress in a nationally broadcast address to pass a law overhauling the country's courts, and appealed for peace in the capital Quito, a city of 1.8 million people, the radio said.

The announcement came as the country's opposition threatened to call more protests, in both Quito and the port city of Guayaquil. ``We all have to take part in the defense of our democracy,'' Guayaquil Mayor Jaime Nebot said in an interview with the radio, calling on residents to stage rallies next week.

Protests intensified in Ecuador last night and today after Gutierrez invoked a state of emergency for Quito and dissolved the country's Supreme Court. The battle over the court erupted in December when the governing party attempted to restructure the court.

Bloomberg

[BrotherBuzz]

22. Emails from my brother in law

he arrived in Ecuador on Friday and is enjoying the excitement in Quito. I wonder if he will ever get to his work in the rain forest. Each of the following was added to a news item he sent keeping me abreast of the developments in Ecuador (He's a political junkie from way way back):

Things are certainly getting interesting here, as I knew they would. The president declared a state of emergency here in Quito last night due to continued demonstrations. The military so far is supporting the president, but I think that if the demos continue the military will change sides. Too bad we can´t do the same thing in the US and throw the wretched thieves out the way they do here.

So here we are in a state-of-emergency in Quito and Pichincha province where quito is located, but life goes on pretty much as normal. There is still a lot of honking of car horns in support of throwing the president out of office. Virtually everyone here believes that, one way or another he will be out within a week or two. At the moment the military is supporting him, but the people I am talking with believe that they will change their support within days.

Political situation here is fascinating and fun. They combine protest with music and art.

This is LOTS OF FUN. Wish you could be here. This president will be out in the next few days. He no longer has any real support. Wish we could do the same with the son-of-a-bitch Shrub.