Uprising deposes Bush ally in Ecuador

Following over a week of mass demonstrations, the Ecuadorian Congress on April 20 removed from office President Lucio Gutiérrez, who had once called himself “the closest ally of Bush in Latin America.”

Gutiérrez had won the 2002 presidential elections in Ecuador, defeating billionaire President Alvaro Noboa with the strong backing of the dispossessed peasants and workers, particularly the Indigenous population. The people were tired of a succession of corrupt administrations that ignored the people’s needs. When he took office in January 2003, Gutiérrez promised to fight against corruption and on behalf of the poor, who represent more than 60 percent of Ecuador’s 12.5 million people.

An army colonel, Gutiérrez had won the sympathy of the masses on Jan. 21, 2000, when he, together with Indigenous groups and a sector of the military, had attempted a coup against right-wing President Jamil Mahuad.

His pledge of “total dedication to the service of the most dispossessed” vanished, however, soon after he took office. His alliance with leftist organizations and the largest and most powerful Indigenous group, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE), which had been his strongest supporters, broke just a few months later.

Gutiérrez turned his back on the masses, winning their contempt when he aligned himself with the imperialists. Loyal to his statement that he was a Bush ally, he spent the next 27 months signing a series of pacts on behalf of U.S.-based transnational corporations, turning into a dedicated partner of the IMF and the World Bank.

He even put into practice the “Plan Topo” (Mole), an attempt to help oil and electricity transnationals steal those resources from the Ecuadorian people. Ecuador is the second-largest oil producer in Latin America, after Venezuela.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was his packing the Supreme Court with his own allies. These judges then pardoned hated ex-President Abdala Bucaram, who had been forced out of office for corruption and appropriating state money and who was in exile in Panama. The masses, both from the poorest sectors to the middle class, joined in continuous mobilizations in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, and in many other regions of the country.

Demanding, “Lucio out,” from the earliest of eight days of demonstrations, people surrounded the presidential palace. Ignoring the presence of the poorest Ecuadorians, Gutiérrez baited the demonstrators as “outlaws in Mercedes Benz.” People then started calling themselves “outlaws” (forajidos) and coordinated actions through Radio Luna, an alternative and progressive radio station.

People would call the station through cell phones to announce the place and time of mobilizations. The demonstrators, among them children and seniors, were met by violence from the repressive forces of the police and army, who used teargas steadily for hours. By the end, two people had been killed and hundreds injured.

Along with what was seen as a spontaneous uprising against corruption, there was also the participation of organizations and social movements from a wide range of ideologies, from social democracy to the Indigenous organizations. Luis Macas, president of CONAIE, stated: “We are fighting and will continue indefinitely until they all [the corrupt government] leave. We need to construct new institutions among us all, Mestizos, Blacks and Indigenous. The fundamental axis to reconstruct this country is to recover dignity and sovereignty, because at this moment this is being violated by the existence of Plan Colombia and the Free Trade Agreement that the executioner [Gutiérrez] wants to sign.”

Gutiérrez was removed from office by the Ecuadorian Congress on April 20. He had received U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney’s backing until it became clear that the demonstrations, instead of diminishing, were turning more militant as they confronted state violence. Then Kenney met with Gutiérrez and the Armed Forces. Soon afterwards the military publicly announced that they were withdrawing their support for the president. Gutiérrez then fled to Brazil, where he had requested asylum.

The OAS, a body at the service of Wash ington, has questioned the “legitimacy” of Gutiérrez’s removal and will be sending a team to Ecuador to “investigate” the action and determine if it conforms with the constitution. Ironically, the same entity never questioned the illegal kidnapping of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez during the brief April 2002 coup attempt.

Alfredo Palacio, Gutiérrez’s vice president, has been sworn in as president of Ecuador. His next steps will be watched worldwide, but more closely by Ecuadorans, who are unlikely to be satisfied with just a change of names. They are ready to continue the mobilizations.