Posted on 01/16/2003 2:08:17 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
QUITO, Ecuador -- Three years after he led a coup to oust an unpopular president, a former army colonel took the oath of office Wednesday as Ecuador's new leader, vowing to fight the "corrupt oligarchy" that he says controls the nation.
As Lucio Gutierrez, 45, strapped on the red, yellow and blue presidential sash, his followers in Congress chanted "Lucio, Presidente! "
"Lucio Gutierrez will not govern for the left nor for the right. He will govern for Ecuadoreans unhindered by the ideologies of the past," he said to loud applause. "We will change Ecuador or we will die trying."
Gutierrez won an election runoff in November, promising to fight corruption -- a pledge that could bring him into confrontation with Ecuador's political elite. He said in an interview published Wednesday that he would call giant street protests if the political establishment tries to block his reforms.
Ecuador has been ranked in international studies as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Seven Latin American presidents were among the guests at the inauguration, including the region's top leftist leaders, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.
Gutierrez has frequently expressed his admiration for Chavez, raising fears among some Ecuadoreans that he may seek to emulate Chavez, a former paratrooper and coup leader whose leftist rhetoric has divided Venezuela and produced growing political instability.
Gutierrez thrust himself into the national spotlight in January 2000, when he led a group of disgruntled junior army officers and 5,000 Indian protesters in an uprising that drove the widely repudiated Jamil Mahuad from power in the midst of the country's worst economic crisis in decades.
Gutierrez was imprisoned for six months after the coup and expelled from the army.
In his address Wednesday, he said he would take strong steps against "the corrupt oligarchy that has robbed our money, our dreams and the right of Ecuadoreans to have dignified lives."
"If sharing and showing solidarity, if fighting corruption, social injustice and impunity, means belonging to the left, then I am a leftist," he said, drawing cheers.
But he added: "If generating wealth and promoting production means belonging to the right, then I am a rightist." That remark drew fewer cheers.
Is Brazil becoming communist?***The philosopher Olavo de Carvalho stresses that, as usual, leftist parties preach one thing and practice another. Publicly they praise democracy, freedom, social justice, equality and economic progress. However, if we look at their program, available through the internet, it will be obvious that their intentions are exactly the contrary. Recently, before going to pay homage to Fidel Castro, Lula declared that people who think that he and his party is abandoning former communist ideas are completely wrong. Their ultimate goal still is to establish a dictatorship of one party, with absolute power in their hands and complete restriction to any demonstration of individualism. The party's program, as expected, favors all forms of collectivism.
They have not moved one inch from their original Marxist ideas. They even admit that their intention is to resort to violence in order to reach their goals of socializing the country. The party program also declares that the PT party is just a branch of the international socialist program. Though all over the world communism is seen as a black page of history, marked by bloodshed and economic failure, in Brazil it is being hailed as the solution of all problems of the country, strictly in accordance to Marxian canons. Certainly the communists will not succeed in establishing a clone of soviet or Cuban regimes, but surely they will lead Brazil to very serious social, political and economic crisis, with dire consequences to all citizens.***
Seven Latin American presidents were among the guests at the inauguration ceremony, including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. It was the first time that Castro, da Silva and Chavez - all of them leftists - and Gutierrez, who describes himself as center-left but enjoyed the support of leftist groups during his campaign, had gathered in the same place.
On his arrival in Ecuador, Chavez referred to Gutierrez as "my comrade and brother in arms." Gutierrez has frequently expressed his admiration for Chavez, raising fears among some Ecuadoreans that he may seek to emulate Chavez, a former paratrooper and coup leader like Gutierrez whose leftist rhetoric has divided Venezuela along class lines and produced growing political instability. "I think they are different personalities but their political plans are not so different," said Benjamin Ortiz, head of a Quito think tank. "His goal is to accumulate political power and if he achieves it, it will be a beginning similar to that of Chavez, who began with popular referendums."***
I'd never even read about Ecuador having a change of leadership. Add to this mix that a Chinese corporation controls the Panama Canal. We don't really have a military presence in South America.
It sounds like this could be a serious challenge in the future, and the US is expending all of its resources on the mideast.
If Gutierrez chooses to party down with this crowd, i think we have some kind of idea what kind of leader he is. This is not good.
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