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04-20-2005, 05:58 PM
Associated Press
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
QUITO, Ecuador — Lawmakers in Ecuador voted Wednesday to remove embattled President Lucio Gutierrez from office after a week of escalating street protests demanding his ouster, and they swore in Vice President Alfredo Palacio to replace him.
An unidentified army officer in combat gear said on television that Gutierrez and his wife, Congresswoman Ximena Bohorquez had left the presidential palace. An Associated Press photographer saw a small helicopter land briefly on the palace roof and a figure climb aboard.
Anti-Gutierrez protests have been building for a week and late Tuesday night 30,000 demonstrators marched on the palace, demanding Gutierrez's ouster.
The rapid events were only the latest in a long history of political instability in Ecuador, where two other presidents have been forced from office since 1996.
Gutierrez was elected president in November 2002 on a populist, anti-corruption platform. But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart after he instituted austerity measures, including cuts in food subsidies and cooking fuel, to satisfy international lenders.
Opponents have accused him of trying to consolidate power from all branches of government. On Friday Gutierrez dissolved the Supreme Court in a bid to placate protests after his congressional allies in December fired most of the court's judges and named replacements sympathetic to his government. That move was widely viewed as unconstitutional.
Acting Attorney General Cecilia Armas issued an arrest order for Gutierrez for his alleged role in violently suppressing recent protests across Ecuador, a Colorado-size Andean nation of 12.5 million inhabitants on the northwest shoulder of South America.
But his whereabouts weren't clear, though some protesters apparently believed he was trying to leave from Quito's airport. Television images showed hundreds of people forcing their way onto the military landing strip and blocking a twin-engine plane from taking off. A helicopter parked nearby was like the one seen at the palace. Radio reports said the airport was closed for security reasons. Panama denied reports that Gutierrez had sought political asylum there.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
QUITO, Ecuador — Lawmakers in Ecuador voted Wednesday to remove embattled President Lucio Gutierrez from office after a week of escalating street protests demanding his ouster, and they swore in Vice President Alfredo Palacio to replace him.
An unidentified army officer in combat gear said on television that Gutierrez and his wife, Congresswoman Ximena Bohorquez had left the presidential palace. An Associated Press photographer saw a small helicopter land briefly on the palace roof and a figure climb aboard.
Anti-Gutierrez protests have been building for a week and late Tuesday night 30,000 demonstrators marched on the palace, demanding Gutierrez's ouster.
The rapid events were only the latest in a long history of political instability in Ecuador, where two other presidents have been forced from office since 1996.
Gutierrez was elected president in November 2002 on a populist, anti-corruption platform. But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart after he instituted austerity measures, including cuts in food subsidies and cooking fuel, to satisfy international lenders.
Opponents have accused him of trying to consolidate power from all branches of government. On Friday Gutierrez dissolved the Supreme Court in a bid to placate protests after his congressional allies in December fired most of the court's judges and named replacements sympathetic to his government. That move was widely viewed as unconstitutional.
Acting Attorney General Cecilia Armas issued an arrest order for Gutierrez for his alleged role in violently suppressing recent protests across Ecuador, a Colorado-size Andean nation of 12.5 million inhabitants on the northwest shoulder of South America.
But his whereabouts weren't clear, though some protesters apparently believed he was trying to leave from Quito's airport. Television images showed hundreds of people forcing their way onto the military landing strip and blocking a twin-engine plane from taking off. A helicopter parked nearby was like the one seen at the palace. Radio reports said the airport was closed for security reasons. Panama denied reports that Gutierrez had sought political asylum there.