Home > Popular Uprising Forces President of Ecuador to Rescind Martial Law Order
Popular Uprising Forces President of Ecuador to Rescind Martial Law Order
by Open-Publishing - Sunday 17 April 20054 comments
Edito Governments South/Latin America
Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez has lifted a state of emergency in the capital, Quito, less than 24 hours after he imposed it.
Thousands of people had taken to the streets of the city in defiance of the new emergency powers.
They were also protesting the president’s decision on Friday to dismiss the Supreme Court for the second time in four months.
The security forces took no action to stop the demonstration.
Speaking on national television, Mr Gutierrez said he was lifting the state of emergency because he had "obtained the principal objective, which is the dismissal of the Supreme Court".
"Little by little, tranquillity is returning to the nation," he said.
The Ecuadorean Congress is due to meet in emergency session over the weekend to discuss the crisis.
Opposition politicians have said the sacking of the judges was unlawful and accused Mr Gutierrez of being a dictator.
The state of emergency suspends civil liberties, including the right to free expression and assembly, and empowers the government to take extraordinary measures to quell unrest.
’Bias’
Up to 10,000 people have been protesting in the streets of Quito since Thursday, banging pans and demanding the president’s resignation.
Mr Gutierrez, 48, dissolved the Supreme Court on Friday, saying the unpopular judges were the cause of the Quito protests.
The unrest began in December, when Mr Gutierrez first fired the Supreme Court, alleging that the magistrates were biased against him.
Ecuador’s President Lucio Gutierrez gestures to reporters
Opposition groups accuse Gutierrez of behaving like a dictator
The crisis deepened in March, when the new court dropped corruption charges against ex-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.
Opponents say dismissing the judges was part of a government deal to exonerate Mr Bucaram in return for his political support.
But Mr Gutierrez said the old court had to go because its judges were biased in favour of opposition parties, particularly the Social Christians.
Since 1997, two presidents of Ecuador have been forced out of office by street protests.
Forum posts
17 April 2005, 06:48
Why is it that the peoples of every other country even Equador, even the Philipines, the Ukraine, any where else can find the will to over throw their corrupt governments when here in the U.S. where we call ourselves civilized, educated, democratic, we can not take our government away from the military dictatorship? What can be the reason that we simply have no will to be governed by a government that represents our people’s needs? Why are we willing to let the military and big business have 99% of the power and 99% of the pie? What has happened to the U.S. that its people no longer care about anything while the place goes to hell?
20 April 2005, 18:01
Because all of the mentioned revolutions were helped heavily by the US Government and you cannot expect them to support a revolution against themselves. They are still not that dumb.
21 April 2005, 03:11
"WE HAS MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US." [credit to Pogo Possum/Walt Kelly 1967]
21 April 2005, 08:57
PERHAPS OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOT SO CORRUPT THAT IT NEEDS VIOLENT CHANGE.
AND PERHAPS IT IS ONLY YOUR HATE FILLED VIOLENT IMAGINATION THAT MAKES YOU THINK IT DOES.