Coup in Ecuador thwarted

[Hannah Bell]

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa gave a nighttime speech from the balcony of the Presidential Palace as thousands of jubilant supporters celebrated his rescue from a hospital where he was held by police rebelling against the Correa's left-wing government.

Correa was rescued by security forces loyal to the government and rushed from the police hospital where he was being held, amid heavy gunfire, according to an Al-Jazeera report.

Earlier in the day, groups of police held violent demonstrations against a law that the claimed cut their benefits. Correa tried to speak to officers at a police barracks, but was physically attacked. After being overcome by tear gas, he was taken to a police hospital, where he was essentially held captive by officers who Correa said tried to break into his room, possibly to kill him.

But thousands of ordinary Ecuadorians mobilized to defend Corrrea, surrounding the hospital. Correa appeared at an upper-floor window of the building, shouting to supporters, "If they want me, here I am," and then ripping his necktie loose. Meanwhile, according to journalist Stephan Kueffner, "In front of every police station, there are tires burning, with smoke rising into the evening sky."

Eva Gollinger is a Venezuelan-American attorney and writer, and author of The Chávez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela. She issued regular reports on the coup in Ecuador on Twitter and on her Postcards from the Revolution Web site. Here, we print her posts from throughout the day....

http://socialistworker.org/2010/10/01/coup-in-ecuador-thwarted

[EFerrari]

1. Yikes. I just looked up Lucio Guitierrez, a politician that was named by Correa

as leading the coup in some way. He sounds like a stalker. He was president of Ecuador but was thrown out of office. He's been in prison twice. He ran against Correa and lost. He's never accepted being forced from office or losing to Correa. He's former military.

[EFerrari]

2. And, btw, the BBC coverage of this ( saw the reported time stamped 22:07 local)

was the most right wing pos I've ever heard from them. Both from the reporter and from the anchor setting up his report. They basically said that Correa is arrogant and polarizing and a friend of Hugo's and that he can rule by degree. Awful. But the funny part is, the whole time they were talking, they're showing these big wide shots of tens of thousands of people (if not more) flooding the streets with flags around the residence.

lol

ETA: BBC falsely says that Correa is "pinning" an attempted coup on Gutierrez with no evidence at all when Gutierrez's lawyer literally broke into TV Ecuador with a crowd and shut down the station. BBC says it's all about the police and that there's no central plot and they're full of it.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Our own link doesn't say that.

:shrug:

Ecuador army frees President Correa from hospital siege
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11449775

[EFerrari]

6. The report I watched was time stamped "local time"

which I take to be Ecuador time? Maybe the story has been updated?

It was very odd. Very much in the vein of "this little man is aggrandizing himself by claiming this was an opposition led coup". And they never mentioned Gutierrez's lawyer at the tv station -- weird that journalists wouldn't report crimes against journalists, the guy broke a big glass door to get in with a crowd of thugs. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

7. And check this out, dipsy.

I don't know anything about Gutierrez so, read around some.

This is a story that says he was a BushCo darling in office:

Ecuador: Drug scandal rocks Gutiérrez government
By Bill Vann
6 December 2003

The government of President Lucio Gutiérrez in Ecuador has been rocked by reports exposing links between his January 21st Patriotic Society Party and accused drug traffickers. In the face of ample evidence of wholesale corruption and with growing demands that the Ecuadorian president resign, the Bush administration has solidarized itself with his government. Washington fears that, in the wake of the recent revolt in Bolivia, the entire Andean region will be swept by political upheavals.

The Quito daily El Comercio revealed last month that brothers Luis and César Fernández—charged along with a dozen others in October with cocaine trafficking—had contributed $30,000 to Gutiérrez’s 2000 election campaign.

big snip

Shortly after he assumed the presidency, Gutiérrez flew to Washington to meet George W. Bush. The US president declared the former colonel “the best ally and friend of the US in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism.” What this meant was that the Ecuadorian president had aligned himself with the US counterinsurgency campaign against anti-government guerrillas in neighboring Colombia, providing active military support in the strife-torn border, while agreeing to allow US forces increased use of bases in Ecuador. He likewise had bowed to the demands of both foreign financiers and US-based oil conglomerates looking to exploit Ecuador’s significant petroleum reserves.

Given the revelations concerning Gutiérrez’s ties to the country’s top drug traffickers, one might expect the US administration to back off of Bush’s statement about his “best ally and friend” in Ecuador. On the contrary, it has intervened aggressively in an attempt to bolster the tottering regime.

Otto Reich, Bush’s envoy to Latin America, flew to Quito this week to declare Washington’s support for Gutiérrez. Pressed by the local media about the swirling scandal over drug money, Reich said only, “In a democracy any kind of situation can come up, in which everyone can and should express their opinions.” He said that the Ecuadorian government remained a “close friend of the United States,” and that the Bush administration’s aim was to assist Gutiérrez in assuring that Ecuadorian “democracy” “will remain vibrant.”

https://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/ecua-d06.shtml

[dipsydoodle]

8. Thanks for that

Another pos from the sound of things.

I got the impression from the Beeb report that their reporter was actually in Venezuala ? If so what you saw may have been second hand at the time.

[EFerrari]

11. It's very interesting. I watched the clip at that link.

The anchor lady talked to three reporters and he was the second one in Ecuador and the only Ecuadorian. She asked all three if Correa had any evidence connecting Gutierrez to the coup and they all said no. The clip posted at the bbc site ended before that part of their conversation.

Now, that's a perfectly reasonable question but the way it was asked pulled for a negative answer. And she definitely said Correa was "pinning" this on Gutierrez as if Correa was just making things up for no reason.

The reports I've read that originate here or there all tend to minimize -- or seem to, so far. Maybe that's just because they were first reports? They say Correa was pelted with water by police but not that his gas mask was nearly torn off several times or that he was nearly beaned on the head by a canister or that his car has marks from at least four shots.

[dipsydoodle]

16. Ever seen this

Dear Mr Bechtel.......

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/world/latin-america/water-privatization/ecuador/letter-to-bechtel-concerning-guayaquil-ecuador/

[EFerrari]

17. Wowee! That is so awesome!

I was thinking yesterday that a rapid response network would be a great thing if we could cobble one together.

Also a little bit more info today. Miguel Tinker Salas, a prof at Ponoma College here in CA, says that the police were chanting Gutierrez's name in front of the hospital yesterday while Correa was hostage. That is likely why he drew the conclusion that he did. And, I still tend to think he was right. It took the army 11 hours to rescue him.

[dipsydoodle]

19. The way in which BBC TV is explaining now

is that Correa went into the hospital to "escape" from the police who were rebelling gainst him due to the austerity measures aginst them. That was how he effectively became "hostage" and was then "rescued" by the military. BBC's web page now includes the paras : "The president and his supporters said the police revolt over a new law cutting benefits for public servants amounted to an attempted coup." and " Mr Correa has blamed the Patriotic Society Party (PSP), led by Lucio Gutierrez, for fomenting the unrest. In a television interview, Mr Gutierrez said the accusation was "totally false".......not sure if those paras were there earlier today.

off topic : The US / STD issue in Guatlemala is now main headline TV news here. They even had a live interview with a WH spokeslady.

:hi:

[Monk06]

3. Sounds like a familiar scenario...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id--ZFtjR5c

[mahina]

5. Welcome news!

Thank God.

[dipsydoodle]

9. You just can't beat

a good thwarting. :)

[sabrina 1]

10. That is great news, thank you!

Just like the coup in Venezuela, the people went out to support their president.

Why can't they just be left alone in these countries? I don't know if elements of the U.S. right were behind this, but it would be a surprise if they weren't.

It's a relief to hear that Correa is okay. I hope they catch the attackers and find out who was behind it.

[maryf]

12. Power to the people!!!

Right on! K&R

[Kolesar]

13. I wonder if mine owners are behind the RW takeover

There is a dispute over mining claims on the land of indigenous people.

[EFerrari]

18. There are several possible scenarios.

Ecuador produces cocaine and the politician whose name has been raised in connection with yesterday was found to have taken drug traffiker money and to be a BushCo darling while he was president. Ecuador is also winning a big case against Chevron and you know that has to be dangerous. Then, you're right about the mining claims. Plus, the State Department spends millions of dollars trying to destabiize Ecuador just as it does Venezuela and Bolivia.

The real question is, who doesn't want Correa out of power. :)

[ieoeja]

20. The real answer would appear to be...

... the people of Ecuador. :)

[EFerrari]

21. LOL! Sure looked like it yesterday!

:)

[blindpig]

14. k&r

[Starry Messenger]

15. k & r

[derby378]

22. What kind of gun-control laws does Ecuador have?

The "here I am, shoot me" stunt might have a little more weight if the current government is not what we'd call authoritarian or oppressive, especially on gun policy.

[EFerrari]

24. Correa is very popular, with an approval rate of about 70%.

And this despite the constant attempts of the American and European media to discredit him. The public likes him well enough to rush to the hospital where he was a hostage and engage the national police until the army could put a rescue plan together and get him out.

[intaglio]

23. Always check at least 2 sources

I use BBC and Al Jazeera