The revolutionary situation in Ecuador?

[fernando]

Ive been seeing on the news that the people from Ecuador want their president to fuck off, however Ive looked on the news websites and they dont give me that much info on the situation there in general. Is the president of Ecuador a left-wing or right-wing president? Do the people of Ecuador want a leader more lik Chavez? What is going on there???

Thank you for your time!

[NovelGentry]

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Ecuador&btnG=Search+News

Google News is a good thing.

Apparently it's coming amongst economic troubles and just general lack of giving a shit about what the people want. One article said he got rid of their supreme court at one point but appointed a new one of his own. Not sure... Wish I knew more about the world than I do, but I don't, sorry :(

[bolshevik butcher]

I saw the prostests, by the looks of it the guys gonna have to get out of there or forced out!!!

[fernando]

Originally posted by [email protected] 20 2005, 04:07 PM

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Ecuador&btnG=Search+News

Google News is a good thing.

Apparently it's coming amongst economic troubles and just general lack of giving a shit about what the people want. One article said he got rid of their supreme court at one point but appointed a new one of his own. Not sure... Wish I knew more about the world than I do, but I don't, sorry :(
But is the guy leftwing or rightwing?

[NovelGentry]

But is the guy leftwing or rightwing?

This is like asking if our president is right wing or left wing... you can bring in the most left wing candidate there is, and in comparison to people pushing for workers control, they're still on the right. Unless he's doing what he can to abolish the control of the state and it's protection of class antagonisms (not likely because that's where his power lies)... it's difficult for me to consider him leftwing.

[fernando]

Well I assume you are an American, so I have to take from this that he is pretty right wing. I dont know that much (well practically nothing) about Ecuador, so to me it's all a bit of new territory Im delving in.

[NovelGentry]

Well I assume you are an American, so I have to take from this that he is pretty right wing. I dont know that much (well practically nothing) about Ecuador, so to me it's all a bit of new territory Im delving in.

I'll be completely honest in saying I have no clue about the guy's policies or what he puts in place... my point is quite simply that he is a guy who is in a position to have policies, and put certain things in place. Any country maintaining this type of control by a single "government" that rules over the people (even if the people's opinion is to affect it), for example, Cuba, or Venezuela, maintains, although subtle, maintains the agenda of bourgeois politics. Even if it's leaders are not bourgeois.

If you are willing to admit you cannot work within bourgeois politics to exact real change, then you must admit anyone within bourgeois politics, or leftist variations thereof, is not out to exact real change. Castro does not actively seek to abolish the Cuban National Assembly. Chavez does not seek to abolish his very own role. This doesn't mean that their role in that government is not helpful or alleviating to the crisis of the people anyway, merely that by taking that role, they do a fair amount to preserve it.

Destroying the state, in whatever incarnation, from within is not simply a problem because "power corrupts," but it is flat out a logical contradiction. It is like burning down your own house from within it -- you go down in the fire, so you lose any chance of building anything new.

For example, if congress were to say "we are going to abolish congress and put legislative control into the hands of the people." It seems like one swift blow, but whatever law they enact becomes completely negated when congress no longer upholds the legislative power. What stops the executive or judicial branch from recreating congress? Well you say, the people do, cause they have the power!!! but their power was ensured by a body that no longer exists.

They have to be willing to fight for that, and uphold their power regardless, but if they are already on this level, no reform is necessary to begin with. And no doubt the other people within the government will put up a fight. What is the possible outcome? Civil war?

So as leftist a stance as can be taken from any existing government, is still to the right compared to those who wish to abolish it. This is why I argue that any revolution must put this power directly into the hands of the people -- that isn't to say there isn't a state, but make sure the people are running the state directly.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

The situation is basically this -

Presidente Gutierrez is a 'left-leaning' (read liberal) reformer, who was elected on a populist campaign in which he promised to fight corruption. He is a 'dark skinned' Mestizo which is rare as far as Ecuadorian Presidents go.

His support base is the rural areas and shanty towns in the cities. Alot of people are saying the opposition has alot to do with racism, and arguments can be made both in support and opposition of this.

Even though opposition legislators attempted, but failed, to impeach Gutierrez in November, for the most part this all started in December when Gutierrez asked the legislature to dismiss 27 of 31 Supreme Court Justices -- critics accused him of trying to controll all branches of goverment.

The newly appointed court then cleared former presidents Abdala Bucaram and Gustavo Noboa of corruption charges.

Then, recently, that same former Presidente Abdala returned to Ecuador from Peru among strong support, claiming he was ousted unconstitutionally from power. He called for the resignation of Presidente Gutierrez and promised to run in the next elections and to initiate a Chavez-style 'bolivarian revolution' in Ecuador.

Then...
Gutierrez dissolved the Supreme Court on Friday to try to placate protests after his congressional allies in December fired most of the court's judges and named replacements sympathetic to his government. That move was widely viewed as unconstitutional, and critics accused him of trying to consolidate his power.

Protestors numbering 30,000+ have taken to the streets in the capital city of Quito resulting in violent confrontations with police. Yesterday 30,000+ protestors attempted to march on the presidential palace, but their plans were thwarted but la Policia Nacional.

Later the same day the head of the Policia Nacional of Ecuador resigned saying that he was not a violent man, and that he couldn't participate in suppressing the Ecuadorian people.

Also yesterday, Lawmakers voted to remove Presidente Gutierrez from office and the military announced that they have withdrawn support for him.

"Congress, in representation of the Ecuadorean people, has proceeded ... to declare Col. Lucio Gutierrez in abandonment of the position of constitutional president. Therefore, he has been dismissed"

The Ecuador government said it did not recognize the legislature's vote but, the media in Ecuador is reporting that President Gutierrez left for Panama by helicopter with his wife. And yhe legislature named Vice President Alfredo Palacio as the new Presidente.

If you are familiar with the recent events in Bolivia alot of this will sound awfully familiar to you.

[chebol]

Gutierrrez got elected using left sounding rhetorc, but went on to immediately break all his promises.

The opposition to Gutierrez is from both the left and the right, and that issue is being resolved at the moment- the right wants the people to allow the new president to settle in, the left (and many others) want change NOW- popular assemblies, elections, dissolution of congress.

While Gutierrez has some support in the poorer classes (and has done some good work- although much of that was due to his vice0president who is now prez), it is not because he is a "leftist" (especially when he backed the Iraq war, was arranging a FTA with the US, militarised Ecuador with US troops and trainers unlike any Latin Amrican country since Honduras, was trying to privatise oil, social services, water, etc; and presided over an increase of poverty despite record oil prices- and that's not to mention the corruption and terrorising independent media and opposition).

Keep an eye on the CONAIE.

Article to follow.

[Jersey Devil]

Gutierrez basically tried to take control of the Supreme Court and the Ecuadorians got tired of these auto-coups and demanded he leave. The Congress then feeling the pressure from the protests against this action unanimously voted to oust him. While he was in the Presidential palace even the Army turned it's back on him refusing to protect him from the protesters. Eventually he had to be flown out. I believe he is now going to be seeking exile in Panama. Surprising that this came so soon after what happened in Bolivia where Lozada was booted after protests. I will talk to some of my Ecuadorian friends about this, I know several of them that are from the area (Quito) in which these protests started.

Article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4466697.stm

Ecuador Congress sacks president

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41057000/jpg/_41057617_ap203bodypresident.jpg
Opponents have accused Mr Gutierrez of acting like a dictator

Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez is said to have abandoned the presidential palace after Congress voted to sack him and the army withdrew its support.
Deputies voted unanimously to replace Mr Gutierrez with Vice-President Alfredo Palacio, in a motion accusing the president of "abandoning his post".

Mr Gutierrez left the presidential palace by helicopter, but his spokesman said he was still in his post.

Mr Gutierrez sparked protests when he tried to overhaul the Supreme Court.

There were loud cheers from the nearby public square as Mr Gutierrez climbed into a helicopter that had landed on the presidential palace.

His destination was unknown, but a spokesman for Mr Gutierrez told the BBC he would remain in Ecuador at a private house.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41040000/jpg/_41040429_quitoap203b.jpg
Anti-government protests have been spreading

The armed forces took control of Quito's international airport in case Mr Gutierrez tried to leave. The chief prosecutor has issued a warrant for his arrest.

Mr Palacio has already taken an oath of office.

The BBC's South America correspondent Elliott Gotkine says it seems Mr Gutierrez was left with little choice but to accept his fate.

Earlier, the military stepped up security across Quito, amid signs that a week of mass demonstrations were turning violent.

Some anti-government protesters clashed with supporters of Mr Gutierrez, who had arrived in the city.

Fresh protests broke out on Wednesday after a night of demonstrations in which tens of thousands of Mr Gutierrez's opponents marched on the palace.

The chief of police, Jorge Poveda, has resigned, saying he could not continue to serve while "Ecuadorian people fight among themselves".

Demonstrations have also been taking place in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, as well as in the cities of Machala on the Pacific coast and Cuenca and Riobamba in the Andean highlands.

Judges fired

Mr Gutierrez's opponents have dubbed him a dictator, saying changes he made to the Supreme Court were attempts to illegally control the judiciary and legislation.

Mr Gutierrez has repeatedly refused to resign, saying he planned to serve out his term in office until January 2007.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41057000/jpg/_41057619_afp203bodyfire.jpg
Armed police had been deployed to protect the presidential palace

The trouble began in December, when Mr Gutierrez sacked almost all of the Supreme Court judges, alleging they were biased against him.

The new court promptly dropped outstanding corruption charges against one of Mr Gutierrez's allies, former President Abdala Bucaram. Mr Bucaram's Roldosista Party had backed Mr Gutierrez's drive to replace the Supreme Court.

The party also helped to block an opposition attempt to impeach Mr Gutierrez in November.

[Severian]

There were some really significant protests in Ecuador a few years back, by workers, peasants, and indigenous peoples, that forced the resignation of then-president Noboa. He'd been pushing some proposals for making the U.S. dollar the national currency, I don't remember what happened with those.

Those really were near-revolutionary, protesters set up a "Popular Assembly" at one point that was something like the nucleus of a new power.

These latest protests, I'm not sure what they represent, and how much of it is working people and how much just different bourgeois parties going at each other. Thanks to other posters including Chebol for helping shed some light on that.

But anyway, the history and stuff that's been going on in neighboring countries make me think the whole situation has some real potential.

[chebol]

Actually, Noboa (not Alvaro Noboa, but Gustavo- there are 2 Noboas in Ecuadorian politics) came to power AFTER Jamil Mahuad was forced out in 1999-2000. The "levamiento" was indeed a major event, with repercussions that stretch to today and beyond. Like I said- watch what the CONAIE (indigenous federation) are up to.

But...
Gutierrez' opponents are not all to be trusted. The include the powerful Social Chrisian Party and other right-wing forces. Also, racism is an endemic problem in ecuador, so this may be an element in the rising.

Gutierrez was prevented from leaving by a mass of people at the airport. he has since been granted asylum by Brazil.

While G. is a F**king ' asesino, he maintains some (misguided) support in Ecuador, for which a class analysis (which I don't have the time t give right now) is necessary. Much of the opposition are middle class or worse. Nevertheless, much is not. The indigenous movement, the workers' movements and many progressive social movements are against him. The challenge is for the left in Ecuador to step up to the chalenge (which they are ill-prepared to do- the largest far-left party is the maoist front the MPD, which has been lending G. support in fear of a "Social-Christian coup"- a fear that may be realised if the popular forces don't mobilise. There are currently calls for popular assemblies again, but Palacio is talking about a referendum on the constitution and "refounding" the nation, yet is being prevented from leaving the presidential palace by thousands of protesters. The Right are now mobilising their own counter-demos, and it is important to note tht the Venezuelan right (the "antichavista:" escualidos have been lending their support to the uprising.

For more info, check out indymedia ecuador, axisoflogic.com, greenleft.org.au, rebelion.org, altercom.org, congresobolivariano.org and do a google search on "ecuador" and "news", just for starters.

[Latin America]

Another fuck down!!!

Happy to see this fucker gone, the Brazilian government gave him political assilium! Is fucking stupid how the vicepresident is the president now, this is the shit that makes me mad. It is very similar to the bolivian situation a year ago!

[bolshevik butcher]

The bolivarian revolution continues. :D

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 21 2005, 07:55 AM
Actually, Noboa (not Alvaro Noboa, but Gustavo- there are 2 Noboas in Ecuadorian politics) came to power AFTER Jamil Mahuad was forced out in 1999-2000.
Right, that's what I was thinking of, thanks for the correction. So what happened with the dollarization?

[Inti]

As I understand their currency is the USD

[OleMarxco]

Z'hat will prolly change soon enough...first, to an currency of their own...z'hen, to the abolition of currency of it all!

[bolshevik butcher]

:D that's fair enough

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Yes Ecuador has been dollarized for some time now, officially since March of 2000.

[chebol]

ECUADOR: People drive out president
http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/624/624p15.htm


Duroyan Fertl

After four months of mounting political pressure and constitutional crisis, the people of Ecuador have driven President Lucio Gutierrez from office. In the face of unstoppable mass protest, and growing calls for the dissolution of Congress and establishment of popular assemblies, Ecuador’s right-wing Congress abandoned Gutierrez, leaving vice-president Alfredo Palacio to assume the role.

Gutierrez was overwhelmingly elected in late 2002, on a campaign supported by the left. Styling himself an “Ecuadorian Chavez”, he promised to destroy corruption in Ecuador, remove the contentious United States military presence at the Eloy Alfaro Air Base, and free the country from neoliberalism. Gutierrez had supported the 2000 uprising, led by indigenous groups, that overthrew a corrupt president.

Like most Latin Americans, Ecuadorians have been hit hard by neoliberal economic policies pushed by the US and international financial institutions, including privatisation of basic services that has led to increases in the cost of living; and increased debt that imposes crippling repayments. These policies have increased the economic and political subordination of the country to the US, which has strengthened support for left-nationalism.

Upon his election, however, Gutierrez quickly revealed himself as another US puppet, increasing US military ties; embroiling Ecuador in Plan Colombia (the Washington-Bogota-led war on Colombian left-wing insurgents); increasing Ecuador’s IMF debt; supporting the war on Iraq; privatising basic services; agreeing to negotiate a free trade agreement with the US; and approving oil exploration in indigenous and environmentally protected areas.

As his popularity plummeted, and his attempts to replace fleeing left-wing allies with right-wing ones were largely unsuccessful, Gutierrez began to act increasingly autocratically.

The current crisis was sparked by his sacking of the Supreme Court in December, using a slim Congress majority. The old court was dominated by opposition parties — notably the right-wing Social Christian Party (PSC) and centre-left Democratic Left (ID).

The new president of the court that Gutierrez appointed, Guillermo Castro, then cleared former president, and Gutierrez’s ally, Abdala Bucaram, of corruption charges, allowing him to return on April 2 from eight years of exile in Panama. Bucaraum’s populist Roldosista Party (PRE) then provided Gutierrez with support in Congress.

A country fed up

On April 13, a general strike called by Quito mayor and ID leader Paco Moncayo condemned the Supreme Court sacking, and called for Gutierrez’s resignation. Although poorly attended, the protests were violently dispersed early in the day by police.

As the news of the police repression spread, an independent Quito radio station, La Luna, invited listeners to speak their mind on air. A spontaneous outpouring of mostly young, middle-class Ecuadorians hit the airwaves, frustrated by decades of political corruption and nepotism. Callers condemned not only Gutierrez — who had called the protesters forajidos (outlaws) — but the political system as whole, and called on the people of Quito to protest.

By that evening, 5000 people gathered together, banging pots and pans. This was followed nightly by ever larger demonstrations, calling for Gutierrez’s resignation and the dissolution of the whole Congress, which one banner described as a “nest of rats”. Adopting the president’s slur as a badge, protesters produced numbered “forajido certificates”, as well as placards, T-shirts and posters.

La Luna and a few other radio stations, rather than political parties, became rallying points as young people, families and pensioners used them to incite their neighbours to join the protests.

Attempting to calm things down with a carrot and a stick, Gutierrez dissolved the new Supreme Court on April 15 and declared a state of emergency in Quito, suspending civil rights and mobilising the armed forces.

To many it seemed Gutierrez was assuming dictatorial powers. Gutierrez was forced to lift the state of emergency the following day, as protests swelled, and spread to the city of Cuenca. Students from Cuenca University commandeered buses to blockade roads and highways and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at police and tanks.

Sections of the Confederation of Indigenous Nations of Ecuador (CONAIE) organised road blockades in other areas in Ecuador, and its national president Luis Macas called for a national mobilisation, blockading the roads in many areas, and bringing out demonstrators in several small cities. While CONAIE led the 2000 uprising, it’s popularity has since suffered because of its earlier support for Gutierrez.

When former CONAIE president Antonio Vargas, a veteran of the 2000 uprising, declared his support for Gutierrez, he was expelled from CONAIE. Threatening to set up a rival indigenous organisation, he claimed he would bring busloads of armed Gutierrez supporters to Quito to combat the demonstrations.

In Quito, the situation was deteriorating rapidly. Police tear-gassed protesters, badly injuring dozens. On April 19, Chilean-born journalist Julio Garcia died from asphyxiation after being tear-gassed.

That night, the protests escalated. Up to 30,000 people engaged in street battles with the police until 3am. Thousands of riot police, with armoured vehicles, dogs, horses and tear-gas were used to disperse the demonstrators, some of whom managed to break through the encirclement of troops and razor-wire that surrounded the presidential palace. More than 100 people were wounded, and dozens arrested.

The next afternoon, led by 30,000 high school and university students, 100,000 Ecuadorians descended on the presidential palace chanting “Lucio out” and “They all must go!”. Police attacked the protesters as Gutierrez moved to fortify the building with razor-wire and a brigade of Special Forces. In other parts of the city, Gutierrez supporters clashed with the protesters.

Several thousand paid government supporters were brought to Quito, where they occupied the social welfare ministry, shooting at the crowds and killing two students. In response, the building was ransacked and set ablaze by the angry crowd.

As protesters prevented them from entering the Congress building, 62 opposition legislators from the 100-strong Congress held an emergency session that afternoon in the CIESPAL building. After deposing the speaker, a PRE member, and appointing a member of the right-wing PSC to the post, the meeting voted 60-0 with two abstentions to fire Gutierrez for “abandoning his post” and replace him with Palacio, a long-time critic of the president.

The Congress invoked constitutional article 167, which was used to fire Bucaram for “mental incapacity” in 1997. Many of the absent members of Congress labelled the decision unconstitutional. Gutierrez refused to accept the decision, arguing that a two-thirds majority of Congress members had to vote for it for it to be valid. He refused to resign, even as the army deserted him, and the Quito chief of police resigned rather than be responsible for the police repression.

Finally, surrounded by tens of thousands of angry protesters, the disgraced leader fled from the roof of the palace in a military helicopter, and headed to the international airport. However, his plane was unable to leave, because 3000 protesters charged out onto the tarmac.

Forced back into his helicopter, Gutierrez headed to the Brazilian embassy. By now, an arrest warrant had been issued against him for “major offences”, and Brazil had offered asylum. There he has remained, with the new government unable to secure him passage out of the country.

Popular assemblies?

Meanwhile, Palacio went to address the hundreds picketing the CIESPAL building. Calling for the nation to be “refounded” with a referendum to create a new constitution, he refused to call new elections before those scheduled for the end of 2006.

The crowd responded by drowning him out with chants of, “Popular assemblies!”, “Thieves! Dissolve the congress!”, and “They all must go!”.

While Palacio is regarded as a left-wing opponent to Gutierrez, and has been promising to move away from neoliberalism, the Congress as a whole is generally regarded as even more corrupt than Gutierrez, and is certainly more right-wing.

The protesters prevented Palacio from leaving, demanding the resignation of the congress and the new president, yelling that they would not be fooled. They stormed the building, chasing the legislators out the side entrances, injuring several, and occupied the building. They then convened a”popular assembly” to debate solutions to Ecuador’s legal and political crisis. Resolving to create similar assemblies across the country in the lead-up to a national assembly, they demanded the government break with Plan Colombia, declare a 10-year moratorium on repayment of foreign debt, and expel US marines from the Manta air base.

International reaction

The response by Latin American governments to the events was initially cautious — not surprising given the number of them that are afraid of being overthrown, either by a left-wing uprising or by a right-wing US-backed coup.

Cuba was one of the first to respond, President Fidel Castro commenting on April 20 that it was “not unexpected” that Gutierrez had fallen, given his support for imperialism. Cuban newspaper Granma International pointed out on April 21 that the protesters demands for dissolving the Congress had not been met. Cuba’s Prensa Latina news service added on the same day that Palacio could also be “ousted by the people” if he did not “pass the governability test”.

On April 20, Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Madure said that Venezuela viewed the overthrow “with sadness”, but that it was a “consequence of the pact that [Gutierrez] did with the international financial elite”. The Bolivian Movement for Socialism has also welcomed the change of government.

On April 22, the Brazilian foreign minister told the media that the offer of asylum to Gutierrez was motivated by a desire for “stability”, not by “sympathy”.

Washington, which had supported Gutierrez right until the Congress decision, has refused to recognise the new government. On April 21, secretary of state Condoleezza Rice called for “a constitutional process to lead to elections”.

International economic markets went wobbly on April 20, when Palacio appointed a known anti-neoliberal as finance minister, and others reputedly hostile to Washington to cabinet posts, but Palacio was quick to reassure international capital. On April 22, he told reporters that he would keep paying the nation's debts while investing more in education, health and the oil industry, and would also negotiate a free trade agreement with the US.

Meanwhile, smaller scale protests continue. On April 22, thousands of forajidos marched peacefully to demand “dignity and sovereignty”, in a reference to fears that there would be attempts to reinstate Gutierrez from outside Ecuador. The Brazilian embassy has had small numbers of protesters outside it demanding Gutierrez’s arrest.


From Green Left Weekly, April 27, 2005.

[Paradox]

Don't know if anyone who's posted in this thread has said this yet, but Ecuador was a coup. Those "mass protests" were done by the middle class, who only make up like 20% of the population. The poor people who make up the overwhelming majority of the population didn't participate in the protests. Gutierrez wasn't voted out. 66 votes were needed in order to vote Gutierrez out, and only 62 people showed up to vote, out of which only 60 voted to remove him for "abandonment of duties." Don't get me wrong, Gutierrez went back on his promises to the poor people (the majority of the population) who voted him in, so I don't support him. But this "movement" is nothing worthy of support, nothing revolutionary. Palacio seems to be a u$ puppet, no surprise there. Read this article. It's quite long, but should clear everything up for people who don't know what's going on in Ecuador:

http://venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1429

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

There are errors in that report, such as


the middle class of Quito exclusively,

as John Dehney pointed out in his article in the Free Press (http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org/fp12c.html),


While the focus of media attention has been on the capital city of Quito, the southern city of Cuenca has been in open rebellion against its former president and government for over a week.

There are a few others as well. While there is some truth to it, it seems this report you post is much more opinion based than a 'in-depth analysis'.

[Paradox]

There are a few others as well. While there is some truth to it, it seems this report you post is much more opinion based than a 'in-depth analysis'.

Do you deny that Gutierrez was removed illegally? That he wasn't voted out legally? That the government did not "collapse under popular pressure," as John Dehney says in the article you posted? Though it says various groups participated in the demonstrations, it doesn't really go into specifics, or deny that the majority of the protestors were middle class. It does say that there were "strong Socialist influences," but could you provide a more detailed report than this? And could you be more specific as to what "errors" there were in the article I posted? Your post and the link in it didn't really clear anything up.

[Severian]

Well of course it wasn't within the normal legal procedures, Gutierrez resigned under the pressure of street protests.

That doesn't make it a "coup", even though it does increasingly appear that the protests were mostly (not exclusively) middle-class. Really I think that word is getting thrown around way too casually by a lot of people these days.

The military did not get involved nor was bourgeois democracy abolished in Ecuador.

The VenezuelaAnalysis piece contains at least some inaccuracy, claiming that " this movement was strictly from the middle class.", while in fact the indigenous group CONAIE joined some of the protests. So right there's at least some participation by working people. link (http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=62&ItemID=7731)
It's not clear what the writer's sources of facts are or where he's writing from.

It's interesting to note as well that Washington has not yet recognized the new government and Rice's statement on Ecuador emphasized....the need to respect constitutional processes.

[Paradox]

It's interesting to note as well that Washington has not yet recognized the new government and Rice's statement on Ecuador emphasized....the need to respect constitutional processes.

I believe that was mentioned in the piece I posted. The u$ is being more careful this time around. They immediately recognized the new leadership in Venezuela after the coup, so this time they didn't want to look suspicious. At least, that's what the guy in the article I posted is saying. Perhaps there was some participation by working-class people, but it was overmwhelming middle-class. That being said, the middle-class is a minority of the population, again only like 20%. And perhaps it wasn't a coup. But either way, just how strong are the "Socialist influences" in Ecuador? Obviously the majority of the working-class didn't participate in these demonstrations, but what are the opinions of the working-class people in Ecuador about the current situation?

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/623/623p14.htm

"On April 13, thousands of Ecuadorians protesting in the capital Quito were violently attacked by riot police with tear gas. The protesters, led by unionists and students, blocked roads with burning tyres and shut down the centre of the city, demanding the resignation of President Lucio Gutierrez and the reinstatement of the Supreme Court judges sacked by the president last December. "

"The popular movement in Ecuador has taken up the slogan used by the piquetero unemployed workers' movement in Argentina, “They all must go!”, but it is also looking to the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela for inspiration, and as a warning of the struggles ahead."

Note that I do agree with the 'Green Left' on many issues, I am simply posting the article

[chebol]

The removal of Gutierrez is somewhat questionable, as the votes of 67 (NOT 66!) members of congress are required to remove a president under normal circumstances. The opposition had been trying this over the past year, and had failed as Gutierrez was constantly creating new alliances in Congress (the return of Bucaram being a bit-piece in one of these horse-trades, for the PRE support in this case).
However, the clause the Congress invoked was one from the constitution that allows the removal of the president for 'abandoning his post', the same article that was used to remove Bucaram (Article 167). In Bucaram's case, it was a matter of "mental incapacity" that supposedly led to his incapacity to govern. In Gutierrez' case, it seems odd that he was removed for 'adandoning his post' when he was in the Presidential Palace at the time. The point, it seems, is that his "dictatorial" and unconstitutional behaviour constituted an "abandonment".

The demonstrations in this case were certainly made up mostly of the middle classes- but they were non-party, normally unpolitical people. The CONAIE, the Unions, various other groups (social, socialist and otherwise) have taken part in demos in the past against Gutierrez, so it's not correct to do as Paradox has done and insinuate that these other groups were supportive of Gutierrez, just because they weren't in THIS demo.
The rally called by the ID Mayor Moncayo involved unions and students, but the "forajido" rallies were largely spontaneous and ANTI-"political" in nature. They called for ALL the corrupt politicians- oposition or government or 'neutral'- to go. The even underlined this by beating several of them up.

I think the options are these:

1. the opposition was trying to manufacture a situation where they could stage a "democratic coup" such as the one that happened, but it got a bit out of control.
(This is generally the approach of those who see it as a conspiracy with US involvement).

or (and much more likely)

2. the opposition was trying to create greater dissent to help them remove Gutierrez, but it got out of control and they had to fire him to keep the crowd happy, regardless of whether it was 'legal' or not. There is a general feeling, that I tend to agree with, that the major opposition party, the PSC, was hoping to build dissent and play dirty politics to weaken Gutierrez in the lead up to next year's election, but the people got fed up, and forced their hand. You will notice that the PSC are leading the calls to respect the constitution, and for the 'forajidos' to all go home now please, while the forajidos themselves are setting up 'popular assemblies' and calling for referenda, elections and major reforms- quite the opposite of what the PSC want.


For anyone with any doubt, remember that Gutierrez was the US' man in the South- the Eloy Alfaro air base at Manta is the only official US base in south America and is an integral part of Plan Colombia. The change of gov't in Ecu. means this is now under considerably more threat, as the base is unpopular, and Palacio is politically weak and dependent upon popular support to get him to the election in 2006.

[Ian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 4 2005, 04:36 PM
For anyone with any doubt, remember that Gutierrez was the US' man in the South
Also remember that the DSP applauded his election.

[chebol]

His election, not the policies he later implemented. He ran with the argument he was the "ecuadorean chavez", he said he would oppose IMF policies, US military presence in ecuador, fight corruption. These SHOULD be supported.

But this is not NOT what he has done. He has turned the country into a giant military base.

I was in Ecuador for his inauguration, and there was tremendous hope for a real change. There was also, unfortunately, a lot of cynicism tht he was just another politico. The second lot were right. Simple.

You will, however, find that the DSP's approach to Gutierrez was far from simply "applauding" him. Any leader who is simply elected lacking an active working class (eg Venezuela) will face a lot of challenges, and gutierrez failed those jut nicely thank you very much.

To see how the DSP viewed him, do a search of back-issues of greenleft.