Unrest rocks Ecuador as troops take airport [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Unrest rocks Ecuador as troops take airport
8 mins ago
Hugh Bronstein

Unrest erupted in Ecuador on Thursday with soldiers taking control of the main airport, police protesting in the streets and looting in the capital while President Rafael Correa looked at dissolving a deadlocked Congress.

In confused and chaotic scenes in Quito, scores of soldiers swarmed over the landing strip of the international airport, which was closed to flights. Witnesses said there was looting in Quito and in the city of Guayaquil, and that many workers and school students were being sent home. Elsewhere in Quito, uniformed police burnt tires in protest at a proposal to cut their bonuses.

The OPEC-member country of 14 million people has a long history of political instability. Street protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the decade before Correa took power.

Members of Correa's own left-wing party are blocking legislative proposals aimed at cutting state costs, prompting him to mull disbanding Congress, a move that would let him rule by decree until new elections, one of his ministers said. Armed forces' head 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," he told reporters.

More:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100930/tpl-uk-ecuador-correa-9562ed3.html