Ecuador 15,000 protest Martial Law

[Tigress DEM]

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2005/04/114629.shtml
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More Than 15,000 In The Streets Despite State Of Emergency
16 Apr 2005 06:40 GMT

((Here's the most level headed post I found there))

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Things change in Politics.
d. 17.Apr.2005 05:34

Yes, it is true, Guiterrez came to power with a majority of the vote and the support of the indigenous movement of Ecuador. However, the time I spend in Ecuador (3 months in 2004) I was informed by many people there that they had voted for Guiterrez, but that he had betrayed the people and had gone back on his promises to fight corruption and not implement neo-liberal economic policies.

The Indigenous party Pachakutik actually left the government due to this. So it is perfectally possible that the people are rebelling against him. In the local municipal and provincial elections in October 2004, Guiterrez's party only got 5% of the vote overall.

But the issue isn't so cut and dried. The high court magistrates that Guiterrez fired were tools of the right-wing ruling elite and I'm not sorry to see them go.

The alternative in Ecuador unfortunately isn't any better than the corrupt fool that Guiterrez has proven himself to be.

The issue is complex, especially with the crazy ex-president Bucaram back on the scene, trying to protray himself as the representative of the poor.



((Translation of Ecuador Article to English))
http://tothebarricades.blogspot.com/2005/04/lucio-gutirrez-president-of-ecuador.html

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Lucio Gutiérrez, president of Ecuador, has declared a state of emergency, provoking an uprising of sorts. Gutiérrez came to power on the strength of Educadorian revolutionary movements, peasants, and the left in general only to pursue a conservative program with no trace of progressive ideas. Here's my translation of an article from Ecuador Indymedia:

A state of emergency has been declared in Quito

Lucio Gutiérrez explained that his decree will "limit civil liberties" established by the Political Constitution of the State and will make Quito, the metropolitan district, a "security zone" inside his jurisdiction.

[Tigress DEM]

1. Did anyone see this in the Mainstream News?

[Tigress DEM]

2. Found it...

What the Mainstream Press reported... AND my first thought is, what does it take to be considered a LARGE protest? 15,000 Sparse?

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/nation/11414181.htm

BY STEVEN DUDLEY
Knight Ridder Newspapers

QUITO, Ecuador - (KRT) - Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez on Saturday lifted a state of emergency he had declared in Quito one day earlier and announced that Congress will meet Sunday on his decision to suspend the controversial Supreme Court.

The announcement came as sparse protests against Gutierrez continued on the streets of Quito and opposition politicians threatened to convene Congress and overturn Gutierrez's decision on the high court.

[rman]

3. why was a state of emergency declared?

I understand the protests are a result of the declaration of a state of emergency. I understand the some of the background of the situation in Ecuador. I don't see a reason cited why this state of emergency was declared.

[Tigress DEM]

4. State of Emergency is result of PROTESTS not the other way around.

Like in Russia when people realized they had been had with the person who was elected and they came out in mass to protest, the people of Ecuador thought they had elected a President who would tend to the needs of the people.

Like the whole Argentina/Perone dynasty this President said he would help the people, got elected by the workers who expected him to do what he said he would, then he met with the US and changed his mind.... or somehow got conscripted to run his country down the same road as ours is going.

Even though they elected him, they feel betrayed by his lack of follow through and were protesting in the streets. He declared a state of Emergency and they didn't go home like frightened children, so he called it off.

These kinds of protests are the ones that should be looked at closely. The INDY press is great for picking it up, but do they have the full resources to really dig in and tell us what is going on?

One of the posters indicated that the previous corrupt president might be waiting in the wings to swoop in should this guy be ousted and I can't help but wonder if our fabulous bully in the White House isn't threatening war or sanctions on the new pres if he doesn't play ball. But the mainstream hasn't touched it, so it's all speculation.

My main interest is that protests are going on all the time, huge ones and they get no media attention. No one in the mainstream news wants to admit that the world is sick and tired of being lied to and isn't going to take it any more, because to acknowledge that would get them booted out of bushit's favored camp.

[liam_laddie]

5. word from Quito

Here's an Sunday e-mail from a friend in Quito; he's a U of
Michigan grad, Ecuadorian by birth, lives and works there. I trust his POV.

"great to hear from you, many thanks for your message and best wishes.
Fortunately enough me and my family are well, but worried. The situation
here is really delicate, not because of the suspension of the individual
rights, as the decree was suspended only 18 hours after it was announced
(and nothing ever happened), but because of the way politicians from all
sides are handling the present crisis. It is a terrible struggle of
political and economical interests in the Congress which has led our country
to the present situation, everyone in the political arena trying to have a
stake of power in the new Supreme Court which is what the crisis is all
about. I have just finished a questionnaire for a poll which we are going to
conduct tomorrow to know what the people thinks about what is going on. Let
me know if you would like to have a copy of two press releases which we sent
to the media last week of our public opinion surveys. They are in Spanish,
but maybe you can understand what the people thinks."