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Ecuador Changes Presidents

“Que se vayan todos!” was the cry of thousands who filled the streets of Quito this week—“Throw them all out!” By day’s end April 20, Congress had thrown President Lucio Gutierrez out, but Vice President Alberto Palacio was sworn in, and it was not at all clear that the nation’s seventh president in nine years would do any better than his predecessors.
Gutierrez came to power on a left-wing political platform, with the support of the nation’s four-million-strong indigenous population, promising help for the poor. Instead, Gutierrez cut subsidies on food and cooking oil, and used the country’s oil export revenues to pay international debts rather than for relief for the country’s desperately poor population. The indigenous coalition that had supported him in 2002 denounced his betrayal and moved into opposition. Leftists generally abandoned the president.When he was charged with nepotism and corruption, Gutierrez had little support from those who elected him.

Last November, Gutierrez made enough deals with opposition members of Congress to narrowly escape impeachment on the corruption charges. In an apparent pay-back, Gutierrez fired 27 of the Supreme Court’s 31 justices in December, as well as members of the national electoral council, replacing them with his own choices. His transparently unconstitutional power grab angered the country, sending demonstrators into the streets to denounce this violationof the separation of powers.

The new, Gutierrez-appointed Supreme Court ruled March 31 that pending charges against ex-presidents Abdalá Bucaram and Gustavo Noboa must be terminated, thereby clearing the way for them to return from exile without fear of jail.

As Quito’s streets filled with angry protesters, Gutierrez called out the police, who fired smoke bombs and tear gas into the crowds, resulting in many injuries and at least one death on April 19. The Commander General of the Ecuador Police force, Jorge Poveda, resigned on April 20, saying he would not take part in further confrontation with the Ecuadoran people.

As Gutierrez fled into exile in the Brazilian Embassy, the new President Alberto Palacio proclaimed that, “the dictatorship, the immorality, the egotism and the fear have ended.” Palacio, a medical doctor, had earlier said that Ecuador was in a coma, and promised to cure the illness of the poor (but oil-exporting) nation of 13 million people.

Palacio acted immediately to suspend participation in the free trade talks now underway in Peru, but it was not clear that this was anything but a temporary measure to allow him to pick his own representative to the talks. Widespread popular opposition to a free trade agreement with the United States is just one of many issues facing the country, including:

1. Foreign debt, dollarization of the Ecuadoran economy in 2000,

2. Pressure from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the country’s biggest indigenous organization, along with other indigenous and campesino (farm workers) groups, to better support agriculture and services for the poor majority;

3. Opposition to U.S. militarization in the region, including the U.S. air base in the northern Ecuador city of Manta (a “forward operating location” for U.S. troops in South America) and U.S. participation in the war in Colombia and fumigation of coca crops;

4. Pending lawsuits against Texaco by Secoya Indians, who point to oily pits and sludge draining into the nation’s rivers as a result of earlier oil operations, and continuing opposition by indigenous nations to foreign oil company operations that pay off the central government while leaving Amazon peoples in poverty.

5. Banana workers who suffer serious human rights abuses, including union-busting, exposure to dangerous chemicals and widespread child labor.

The popular opposition to Gutierrez does not translate into popular support for his successor, Alberto Palacio. To gain that support, and to maintain a constitutional government, Palacio and Congress will have to move quickly to respond to the needs of the people.

Presidential timeline:
1996: Abdalá Bucaram elected
1997: Bucaram deposed by congress on grounds of mental incapacity; replaced by Fabian Alarcon
1998: Jamil Mahuad elected.
2000: Mahuad forced out of office by indigenous protestors after economic collapse; three-person junta is installed. Later, after U.S. pressure, Vice President Gustavo Noboa becomes president.
2002: Lucio Gutierrez elected.
2005: Gutierrez deposed by congress; Vice President Alberto Palacio becomes president.

Ecuador snapshot:
Population: 13 million
Languages: Spanish, indigenous languages
Gross domestic product: $1790 per capita
Currency: U.S. dollar
Main exports: oil and bananas

For further information and analysis, see:

La rebelión de Quito, publicado por Adital, 19 abril 2005

New President Says He Will Serve Out Term, published by Inter Press Service, 4/20/05

Ex-Ecuador Leader Granted Asylum, published by BBC, 4/21/05

President Thrown Out of Office, published by the Guardian, 4/21/05

Ecuador's President Ousted Amid Unrest, published by the Miami Herald, 4/21/05

Nuevo presidente de Ecuador anuncia que gobernará con el pueblo, publicado por La Hora, 21 abril 2005

Una jornada de celebraciones, protestas y saqueos en Quito, publicado por La Hora, 21 abril 2005

Ecuador suspende las negociaciones del TLC, publicado por La Hora, 21 abril 2005

Cronología de la crisis en Ecuador, publicado por La Jornada, 21 abril 2005

Alfredo Palacio, el nuevo presidente de Ecuador, habla en exclusiva con Correo, Publicado por Correo (Peru), 21 abril 2005

Ecuadorian Protests, published by Green Left Weekly, 4/19/05

Battle Rages With Ecuador Indians Over Oil, published by Reuters, 12/19/04

Widespread Labor Abuse on Banana Plantations, published by Human Rights Watch, 4/25/02

Political Turmoil in Ecuador (Connection to the Americas, February 2005)

Indigenous Groups Demand Presidential Resignation (Connection to the Americas, July 2004)