Posted on 04/20/2005 5:01:18 PM PDT by HAL9000
Ecuador's controversial leader, Lucio Gutierrez, has been placed under arrest after Congress ousted him, the armed forces withdrew their support and a new president was named.The embattled Mr Gutierrez left the Carondelet presidential palace just as the legislature named Vice President Alfredo Palacio as the new head of state.
He travelled by helicopter to Quito's airport, where demonstrators prevented him from leaving the country.
He was reportedly heading to Panama, where his wife and two daughters are.
From the airport, the helicopter took Mr Gutierrez to a nearby military base, where he is being held.
Prosecutor Cecilia de Armas says she ordered his arrest for ordering police and soldiers to crush protesters demanding his removal from office.
Mr Gutierrez, who won a presidential election run-off in 2002, is a retired colonel best known for being one of the leaders of a coup to oust elected president Jamil Mahuad in 2000.
He becomes the third Ecuadorean president to be ousted since 1997.
The President had been weakened by street protests that killed at least two people and wounded 100.
The political turmoil began in December after Mr Gutierrez asked the legislature to dismiss 27 of 31 Supreme Court justices, a move seen by opponents as an attempt to consolidate power.
Discontent spread rapidly over the new Supreme Court's decisions not to put on trial former presidents.
The Venezuelan Government says it will be willing to offer asylum to Mr Gutierrez, but declined to comment on the crisis.
If Chavez in Venezuela is offering him safe exile, this may tell us something.
Gutierrez ran as a liberal, but he's really not been all that bad. He's been working toward free trade with the US and privatization of state assets, and he's helped us aid the Colombians against FARC. The protesters, on the other hand... they're almost communists. An ultra-left-wing mayor was leading the protest earlier this month that got tear-gassed.
What the heck happened with Latin America? It seems that these days you can't get elected down there without at least claiming to be a socialist. If this keeps up, they're going to end up with an anti-American trading block, and we just can't have that. Thank God that Reagan had the courage to support the Contras!
However, one of my best friends is Ecuadorean and I just spoke to him an hour ago. He is a free-market capitalist through-and-through; in fact, doing business both in the US and Ecuador (as well as Peru).
He just told me that now-deposed President was a complete "piece of sh*t".
I asked him what he mean and he explained. Basically, the guy talked a good game about free trade, but it was all talk, no action (at all). In addition, he said that the market forces in Ecuador (especially in places like Guayaquil) have been building momentum on their own and the President was trying to piggy-back on that budding economy. [Aside: Sounds like another slimeball ex-president we have discussed just a few times in this forum].
Like I said, I'm not contradicting your points, first person. But, my friend is an immigrant to the US and is very politically savvy. So, please don't think I'm dismissing your points. But, I'm going with his opinion.
And, by virtue of the fact that he is going to has an invitation to hang out with Chavez in Venezuela tells me that maybe (just maybe) the guy was the last thing but a free market capitalist.
"Dime con quien andas" . . Of course he is similar to Chavez. The fact of the matter is that these politicos are two faced slime bags. They know that if are honest about their communist/dictatorial inclinations they will lose foreign and domestic suppor. Gutierrez declared himself a dictator, not even Chavez was stupid enough to do that. Ecuadorians deserve kudos for their courage.
It's probably quite fair not to give him all of the credit. But he did actively support it (and it wouldn't have gone anywhere without his support while he was in office), which ticked off the socialist base that put him in power. The last poll I saw, only 7% of the country thought he was "trustworthy". But he hasn't just done the whole "free trade" thing - the only US base in South America is in Ecuador. He railed against the base when he ran, but he's been supporting it ever since.
If you don't believe me about the whole Free Trade thing, check out the State Department:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35761.htm
"October 2003, President Gutierrez proposed to enter into free trade agreement discussions with the United States, and in May 2004 Ecuador participated in the launch of negotiations for an Andean free trade agreement. "
The report is very upbeat on US-Ecuadorian relations.
In short: he's a slimeball, but he was no Chavez, and I seriously doubt whoever takes office next will be *less* liberal. Especially given who the protestors are.
Duly noted. Again, I'm simply relaying the sentiments of an Ecuadorean that I trust and who is quite familiar with the politics.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.