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Sunday, April 24, 2005 12:06:28 PM
Ousted Ecuador President Flies to Brazil
Again this is much of the same pattern we have been seeing. Mob rule is taking over.
#msg-6065915
-Am
Updated 11:27 AM ET April 24, 2005
By MONTE HAYES
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Ousted Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez flew to political asylum in Brazil on Sunday, four days after he was toppled by massive street protests and sought refuge from angry demonstrators in the Brazilian ambassador's residence.
Gutierrez left with his wife and two daughters on a Brazilian air force Boeing 737 after being whisked out of the residence before dawn, said Lt. Col. Valdomiro Fagundes, a spokesman for Brazil's military.
The plane made a refueling stop in the Amazon city of Rio Branco in northwestern Brazil and was to proceed to Brazil's capital, Fagundes told The Associated Press. He said the plane was expected to arrive in Brasilia at about 1:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. EDT).
"They were rescued," Fagundes said. "The mission was a success."
Ecuador's Interior Minister Mauricio Gandara confirmed Gutierrez's departure. "He's headed to Brazil."
Gutierrez's enemies say he should be tried for abuse of power, corruption and the violent repression of protests that prompted Wednesday's congressional vote to remove him from office.
His supporters say he was removed from power illegally, and the Organization of American States has asked Ecuador's new government to explain how Congress justified its decision to remove him for "abandonment of the post" when he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders.
Congress justified dismissing Gutierrez under a constitutional clause allowing lawmakers to remove a president for "abandonment of the post," even though he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders. Backers of the measure argued that since Gutierrez had not faithfully carried out his responsibilities, Congress should declare the presidency vacant.
Although there had been fears of violence, none was reported as Gutierrez left the ambassador's residence, where he had been besieged by protesters much of the time since Congress voted to remove him. The deposed leader left Sunday through a back entrance before dawn in a police vehicle, according to guards at the gate.
A crowd of protesters had waned by the time Gutierrez left the compound about 4:15 a.m. Police said they saw Gutierrez wave to private security guards and then leave, escorted by another vehicle. They said he left with a man who appeared to be a Brazilian diplomat.
A handful of protesters and journalists were waiting at another entrance, where at the same time a silver sport utility vehicle pulled out a few yards and then pulled back inside. The vehicle apparently was a decoy.
As protesters heard the vehicles pulling away on the other side of the compound, they shouted, "We won't let you leave!" But the vehicles sped off.
Ecuador's new government said Friday it would let Gutierrez go to Brazil, where he has been granted political asylum. But the decision angered many Ecuadoreans.
The political crisis was the latest in a long history of political instability in the South American country of 12.5 million people. Since 1997, three presidents have been driven from office in Ecuador before completing their terms.
More than 1,000 Gutierrez loyalists led by his brother, Gilmar, took to the streets in his hometown of Tena on Saturday, protesting the new government and calling his ouster illegal, police in the remote Amazonian town said.
The peaceful rally also included the town mayor and others in Gutierrez's Patriotic Society party, police said.
Brazil reportedly threatened to withdraw its ambassador, Sergio Florencio Sobrinho, after his car was mobbed Friday night by nearly 200 protesters who prevented him from leaving the compound.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported Saturday that high-ranking Brazilian Foreign Ministry official Samuel Pinheiro had a "tough" conversation with his Ecuadorean counterpart. The paper said he protested that the ambassador was "trapped" inside the residence and denied "the conditions to work."
The growing tension between Ecuador and Brazil came as the OAS decided to send a high-level diplomatic delegation to investigate whether Gutierrez's removal was constitutional.
Gutierrez, a 48-year-old cashiered army colonel elected in 2002, has said the congressional vote that removed him from office violated the constitution.
In a resolution Friday, the OAS avoided explicit recognition of the government of President Alfredo Palacio, who was sworn in by Congress after Gutierrez was removed. It was not known when the OAS delegation would arrive. So far, no country has recognized the new government as legitimate.
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=050424&cat=news&st=newsd89lrlmg0&src=....
Again this is much of the same pattern we have been seeing. Mob rule is taking over.
#msg-6065915
-Am
Updated 11:27 AM ET April 24, 2005
By MONTE HAYES
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Ousted Ecuadorean President Lucio Gutierrez flew to political asylum in Brazil on Sunday, four days after he was toppled by massive street protests and sought refuge from angry demonstrators in the Brazilian ambassador's residence.
Gutierrez left with his wife and two daughters on a Brazilian air force Boeing 737 after being whisked out of the residence before dawn, said Lt. Col. Valdomiro Fagundes, a spokesman for Brazil's military.
The plane made a refueling stop in the Amazon city of Rio Branco in northwestern Brazil and was to proceed to Brazil's capital, Fagundes told The Associated Press. He said the plane was expected to arrive in Brasilia at about 1:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. EDT).
"They were rescued," Fagundes said. "The mission was a success."
Ecuador's Interior Minister Mauricio Gandara confirmed Gutierrez's departure. "He's headed to Brazil."
Gutierrez's enemies say he should be tried for abuse of power, corruption and the violent repression of protests that prompted Wednesday's congressional vote to remove him from office.
His supporters say he was removed from power illegally, and the Organization of American States has asked Ecuador's new government to explain how Congress justified its decision to remove him for "abandonment of the post" when he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders.
Congress justified dismissing Gutierrez under a constitutional clause allowing lawmakers to remove a president for "abandonment of the post," even though he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders. Backers of the measure argued that since Gutierrez had not faithfully carried out his responsibilities, Congress should declare the presidency vacant.
Although there had been fears of violence, none was reported as Gutierrez left the ambassador's residence, where he had been besieged by protesters much of the time since Congress voted to remove him. The deposed leader left Sunday through a back entrance before dawn in a police vehicle, according to guards at the gate.
A crowd of protesters had waned by the time Gutierrez left the compound about 4:15 a.m. Police said they saw Gutierrez wave to private security guards and then leave, escorted by another vehicle. They said he left with a man who appeared to be a Brazilian diplomat.
A handful of protesters and journalists were waiting at another entrance, where at the same time a silver sport utility vehicle pulled out a few yards and then pulled back inside. The vehicle apparently was a decoy.
As protesters heard the vehicles pulling away on the other side of the compound, they shouted, "We won't let you leave!" But the vehicles sped off.
Ecuador's new government said Friday it would let Gutierrez go to Brazil, where he has been granted political asylum. But the decision angered many Ecuadoreans.
The political crisis was the latest in a long history of political instability in the South American country of 12.5 million people. Since 1997, three presidents have been driven from office in Ecuador before completing their terms.
More than 1,000 Gutierrez loyalists led by his brother, Gilmar, took to the streets in his hometown of Tena on Saturday, protesting the new government and calling his ouster illegal, police in the remote Amazonian town said.
The peaceful rally also included the town mayor and others in Gutierrez's Patriotic Society party, police said.
Brazil reportedly threatened to withdraw its ambassador, Sergio Florencio Sobrinho, after his car was mobbed Friday night by nearly 200 protesters who prevented him from leaving the compound.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported Saturday that high-ranking Brazilian Foreign Ministry official Samuel Pinheiro had a "tough" conversation with his Ecuadorean counterpart. The paper said he protested that the ambassador was "trapped" inside the residence and denied "the conditions to work."
The growing tension between Ecuador and Brazil came as the OAS decided to send a high-level diplomatic delegation to investigate whether Gutierrez's removal was constitutional.
Gutierrez, a 48-year-old cashiered army colonel elected in 2002, has said the congressional vote that removed him from office violated the constitution.
In a resolution Friday, the OAS avoided explicit recognition of the government of President Alfredo Palacio, who was sworn in by Congress after Gutierrez was removed. It was not known when the OAS delegation would arrive. So far, no country has recognized the new government as legitimate.
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=050424&cat=news&st=newsd89lrlmg0&src=....
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