Ecuadoreans protest against the Government of President Lucio Gutierrez shouting "Out Lucio" in Quito, Ecuador, Friday, April 15, 2005. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa R.)
Posted on 04/16/2005 1:47:09 AM PDT by bd476
QUITO, Ecuador Apr 16, 2005 — Facing growing street protests demanding his ouster, President Lucio Gutierrez declared a state of emergency Friday night in the capital and dissolved the Supreme Court in an effort to resolve an escalating political crisis.
The state of emergency placed the military in charge of maintaining public order.
Gutierrez, with the military high command standing behind him, announced in a televised address to the nation that under the authority provided by the Constitution, he was dismissing "the judges of the current Supreme Court designated by Congress" in December.
"The measure … was taken because Congress until now has not resolved the matter of the current Supreme Court, which is generating national commotion and especially in the city of Quito … which rejects the operation of the Supreme Court," he said.
A state of emergency suspends individual rights, including the right to free expression and public assembly, and allows police to enter private homes without search warrants. The government noted in a news release that previous governments have made use of states of emergencies frequently.
Quito residents ignored the restriction on public assembly and within two hours of the announcement thousands had poured into the streets.
Quito Mayor Paco Moncayo, a retired army general and a leader of the opposition Democratic Left party, criticized Gutierrez' actions and the military high command for supporting the president.
"The president can't dissolve the court. We are living in a dictatorship and this decree unmasks the dictatorship," he said. "We are calling for civil disobedience."
The court crisis was set in motion in November when the former justices sided with opposition politicians in a failed effort to impeach Gutierrez on corruption charges. Gutierrez then assembled a bloc of 52 lawmakers in the 100-seat unicameral Congress, which voted in December to remove the judges. Law experts said the vote was unconstitutional.
Gutierrez's opponents accused him of acting like dictator and demanded that the new court be dismissed.
In a bid to ease the political backlash, in late March Gutierrez proposed a judicial reform that would replace the new court and establish new methods for selecting judges. The legislature has not acted on the proposal.
There was little turnout earlier this week when Gutierrez's political opponents called a giant demonstration against his purge of the court. But street protests began Wednesday night and increased in numbers until at least 10,000 people marched Friday night in several sections of Quito, banging pots and sticks and shouting "Get out, Lucio!"
The political tensions reached a boiling point after the return earlier this month of former President Abdala Bucaram to Ecuador following a Supreme Court ruling that cleared him of corruption charges.
Gutierrez's opponents charge he cut a deal with Bucaram to stack the Supreme Court in his favor as payback for key votes Bucaram's political party provided last year blocking an impeachment drive against Gutierrez in Congress.
Gutierrez was elected president in November 2002 after campaigning as a populist, anti-corruption reformer. But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart after he instituted austerity measures, including cutting subsidies on food and cooking fuel, to satisfy lenders like the International Monetary Fund.
Gutierrez, a former army colonel, served as Bucaram's military attache and was jailed for leading a rebellion in 2000 that toppled former President Jamil Mahuad from power.
Doesn't sound good...dissolve the Supreme Court? That's some power.
Ecuador's official currency is the U.S. Dollar, I believe.
yeah, the dollar currency is why Ecuador is one of the few bright spots in South America. If it falls, the only country left in South America that isn't a basket case is Chile.
This is great news, just great. Everyday, already, we've got about 100 Ecuadorians lined up to get in our office building, the consoluate has some office there. So now I expect it will be about 500 a day.
IMMIGRATION MORATORIUM NOW!
the only country left in South America that isn't a basket case is Chile.
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Wasn't a finger recently found in a bowl full of Chile ??? ;-))
This is very bad. The guy is a leftist, but apparently they're mad at him for not coming through with enough free goodies. However, I'd still be looking for the fine hand of Chavez in this - I don't think he likes dollarization.
Hmmm. Removing judges. Is this an example of the Laws of Other Nations that our own federal judiciary will consult when making their decisions?
Perhaps it belonged to one of the dissolved Ecuadorian Supreme Court Justices? ;-)
I saw a diagram someplace recently showing the countries to which Chavez' influence is suspected to extend. It was like a spider web spinning out from VZ.
Even in countries that are more or less technically socialist or leftist, he is encouraging more radical leftists.
WASHINGTON DC Apr 16, 2010 — Facing growing street protests demanding her ouster, President Hillary Clinton declared a state of emergency Friday night in the capital and dissolved the Bush installed Supreme Court in an effort to resolve an escalating political crisis.
The only governments you will find in South America are Leftist, Far Leftist, Extreme Leftist, and Fascist Leftist Dictatorships.
Shhhh! Don't give our justices any ideas...
no that would be the judge's head (to appear soon in ecuadorian hot dogs...)...
So we have another leftist attempting to dissolve their Supreme Court. Chavez stacked it in Venzuela, and Roosevelt tried to back in the 30s.
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