Ecuador troops take over Quito airport

[pampango]

Source: BBC

About 150 members of the security forces in Ecuador have taken over the runway at the airport in the capital, Quito, forcing it to shut down.

A bridge and main access road into the capital are reported to have been blocked by protesters.

The troops and police are protesting against austerity cuts which would reduce their bonuses. Television stations have shown images of police setting tyres on fire in the streets of Quito, Guayaquil and other cities.

The mayor of Quito, Augusto Barrera, said all flights were suspended from the Mariscal Sucre International Airport.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11447519

[Cal Carpenter]

1. When the troops and police

become the protesters then the leadership is screwed.

Power to the people!

[Myrina]

2. Too bad underpaid cops, firefighters and teachers don't do that here ...

... or the many members of military families who's pay is so low that they have to go on food stamps .... :(

[Cal Carpenter]

10. Although now it's looking more like

this might be a right-wing coup rather than the rank-and-file fighting for their wages...

I need to look into this a little, heh..

[EFerrari]

11. It is a right wing coup attempt and they tried to make it about

a fake bonus cut.

[Cal Carpenter]

16. Yep

At first glance I just had my typical 'yay solidarity!' reaction, even with a relatively left-wing government people still have to continue to fight for their rights. But obviously I spoke too soon...

[EFerrari]

17. They perfected this cr@p in Venezuela when they sent out

the children of the oligarchy to protest the Chavez dictatorship in 2002 -- in their designer heels.

The right wing the world over seems only to have about 5 tricks. lol

:hi:

[Cal Carpenter]

24. Frankly

I'm sort of embarrassed I missed it on the first reading, heh.

They may only have 5 tricks (they all learn from the same teachers) but they have a lot of money, training and military might behind them. Ugh.

I'm curious to see how this plays out...

[nodehopper]

25. what makes you think it's a right-wing coup attempt?

I mean it's obviously a coup attempt, but what makes you think it's a right-wing one?

[The Magistrate]

26. It Is A Solidly Left Government, Ma'am....

[EFerrari]

28. The real spectacle right now is near the hospital

where the national police are gassing the rocking throwing populace.

[The Magistrate]

30. We Will See What Gen. Gonzales Is Worth, Ma'am

Soldiers trump police.

[EFerrari]

33. This situation makes me think that someone in the military is vacillating

so yes, we'll see what Gonzales is worth shortly.

Mr. John Perkins has agreed to talk to me tomorrow about this situation. I look forward to getting his take.

[nodehopper]

29. not really

Correa has plenty of opposition from the left in Ecuador, for his water law and for his mining law from the indigenous and campesino factions, and for his refusal to ratify a bicultural constitution from the indigenous alliances. The indigenous alliances are a strong political force in Ecuador--their uprisings have ousted presidents before. His courting of mining companies and worries about water privatization in the last two years have earned him plenty of enemies on the left; his international image is far more "green" and liberal than it is nationally. Last week he was talking about dissolving the congress because HIS OWN PARTY was blocking his "austerity measures." He can do that because the constitution he instituted two years ago allows him to rule by decree until the next elections are called. I can see it being a left-wing coup attempt based on my understanding of the national politics of Ecuador, where I have been doing field research since 2002, and where I was most recently this summer, specifically interviewing people who work against Correa's mining law. I was curious if you had read something specific that pointed to this being a right-wing coup, but it sounds like your assessment is based just on this general idea that Correa is "left." Which, I guess, he is, more than his neoliberal, World-Bank mold predecessors, but not nearly as "left" as he has managed to make himself look to the international left.

[The Magistrate]

32. Not Really, Ma'am

If you have any indications police are a left force in Ecuador, please share them.

The rest of this is pretty well known, actually.

[nodehopper]

41. both the police and the military have supported coups from the left in the past

For example, during the 2000 uprising/regime change.

[The Magistrate]

43. An Odd Sort Of 'Left Coup', Ma'am, That Puts Mr. Noboa In Charge....

[nodehopper]

46. and yet

it was, in fact, a left-wing coup led by indigenous and labor leaders, and supported by the sympathetic army and police. The coup was to remove Mahuad because of the anger over the dollarization; Noboa became the president constitutionally (after a very short interim Junta rule immediately following the uprising), because he had been Mahuad's vice-president. Noboa had indigenous support to start with and was expected to be more progressive than Mahuad; he was not, marched in lockstep with IMF, and in 2003 was replaced by Gutierrez, who had played a prominent role in the anti-neoliberal uprising that had ousted Mahuad, in turn, was expected to be more "left" and in the end was not. In general the political process in Ecuador in the last decade has been the left either facilitating regime changes or electing leaders that seem "left" who them become less "left" once in office. This includes Noboa, Gutierrez, and probably in future retrospect Correa himself.

[The Magistrate]

51. Or, Ma'am, It Was A Sham Orchestrated By The Military And Co-Opted Native Leadership

But my interest is more in fresh information concerning the situation at present than in debating history, even fairly recent history.

[nodehopper]

52. "A Sham Orchestrated By The Military And Co-Opted Native Leadership"

Ok, I can't argue with that opinion, My opinion is formed based on having studied Ecuador for the last 10 years, and I don't know what your background on this issue is, but you seem to be going on whatever you want to believe about this particular historical juncture, so I am going to stop trying to convince you with evidence.

And the only reason I bring up recent history is to counter the assumptions in this thread that Ecuador doesn't experience left-wing coups, and that the police never supports the left. But hey, it's just facts.

[The Magistrate]

53. All These Left Coups, Ma'am, And Yet No Left Governments....

[nodehopper]

54. there is a logical fallacy in your response...

1. sometimes coups are about removing someone from power, rather than installing a particular different person; sometimes coups are behind-the-scenes power grabs designed to elevate a specific candidate into power; other times they are escalated waves of popular protest over something like dollarization (a nadir of sorts of IMF's neoliberal shenanigans in Ecuador--why would the right wing oppose the IMF, again?); power grabs ensue, other actors intervene, support shifts. Doesn't mean that the coup wasn't left-wing to start with.

2. Leaders start out as left-wing, then for various reasons, including the pressure by the World Bank and IMF stop being quite so left.

A left coup is no guarantee of a left government. A government that starts out left is not guaranteed to stay that way. If you actually look at the history of Ecuador and not just work backwards from your assumptions to ascribe motives and political allegiances, you can see how all these scenarios played out there.

[The Magistrate]

56. Not Really, Ma'am, But There Seems To Be A Certain Blindness In Yours....

[nodehopper]

60. Blindness or not, I substantiated all my points with detailed history of Ecuador's politics

which is a subject I happen to know a lot about. You keep responding with generic statements and vague "not really"s but forgive me for saying this, at no point did I get the sense that you actually know anything about the particular nation in question. Maybe you do--but that's not coming across in your argument at all, only your assumptions about how if the final result is not a left leader, a coup cannot have leftist origins.

[The Magistrate]

63. Since Gutierrez Seems Behind This, Ma'am, Perhaps You Might Want To Reconsider

Or is he a leftist, too...?

[nodehopper]

64. no, he is not, although he once was, more or less

And I did not say that this coup attempt cannot be a right-wing one, just that Ecuador has a history of coups from the left, and the speculation on this thread about it being a right-wing coup preceded the news about Gutierrez'involvement and seemed to be founded solely on the ideas of "Correa is left, therefore any opposition must be right" and "if it's a coup it must be from the right, because the left wouldn't do that." Obviously this is an unfolding story in progress, and even today there are more details about it than there were yesterday. But what happened 10 years ago is pretty established history by now, yet you disagreed with my presentation of facts about it (again, relevant because it exemplifies that Ecuador has a history of coups from the left, something that is not part of the assumption set on DU, it seems like) without offering any grounded knowledge to the contrary beyond "maybe it was the military and corrupted indigenous leaders." That interpretation does not actually work unless it is grounded in historical information.

[Cal Carpenter]

65. The indiginous left (as opposed to the 'statist left' per this article)

Is standing neither with Correa or the police uprising. Thought this may be of interest to you:

(there's quite a lot at the link but I haven't had time to read it thoroughly yet so I'll present it without comment)
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/4138/coup-attempt-ecuador-result-sec-clintons-cowardice-honduras

Update III: The situation in Ecuador today is further complicated by the disillusion that the very social forces that elected President Correa have with his actions in office. The CONAIE (Federation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador) is the leading national indigenous movement with strong alliances with labor and other social forces) held a press conference today to say that it is neither with the police forces nor with President Correa. The CONAIE and its hundreds of thousands of participants is not only responsible for Correa's election, but its mobilizations caused the rapid-fire resignations of previous presidents of Ecuador in this century.

The situation thus also shines a light on the growing rift in the hemisphere between the statist left and the indigenous left and related autonomy and labor movements. The CONAIE is basically saying to Correa, "you want our support, then enact the agenda you were elected on." Whether one sees this as a dangerous game of brinkmanship or something that actually strengthens Correa's hand by placing him in the middle zone ideologically, it is worth seeing this at face value and beware of getting led astray by some of the usual suspect conspiracy theorists of the statist left who are predictably out there barking that the CONAIE is somehow an agent of imperialism, dropping rumors of US AID funding but never seeming to exhibit the hard evidence. Sigh. What Johnny-One-Notes! They wouldn't know nuance if it slapped them in the face. For them, you either line up lock-step with THE STATE (if it is "their" state) or you're a running dog of capitalism. That kind of Stalinist purge mentality should have died with the previous century.

The CONAIE's grievances happen to be very legitimate. Of course, they do not justify a coup d'etat, but the CONAIE is not participating in or supporting the coup d'etat. It is saying to Correa; we'll have your back, when you have ours. This, like the Armed Forces support for Correa, is also a historical first in the region. And the plot thickens...

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

66. Fascinating, reminds me of the situation here with our president. I remember well that

these groups were instrumental in his landslide victory. Let's hope he remembers that.

Some very interesting questions by Narconews. Would the police feel secure enough to do this without a larger influence making them feel they could get away with it? But on the other hand how could you think a coup would be successful with 0 military backing? Then there's the question of the Gutierrez crew. I think they just jumped the gun and thought that this was bigger than it actually was. Then there is the question of the law itself. Was there a disinfo. campaign or did they interpret the cuts to their benefits correctly. It looks like these cops were way in over their heads.

[EFerrari]

67. The thing is, it is grounded in recent history.

Gutierrez was Bush's "best friend in Ecuador" even after he was found to have taken cocaine money for his campaign.

His was the name chanted by the national police outside the hospital where Correa was a hostage.

His attorney led the break in of TV Ecuador and he himself told the press that Ecuador needed an election to settle this matter.

That's just Gutierrez, not Chevron (whose executives called him a watermelon to Greg Palast, green on the outside and red on the inside), not the mining interests whose profits he hinders, not to the cocaine traiffickers including those in our own DEA and CIA.

There is no benefit to the left to kill or topple Correa. There is only benefit to the right.

And if the speculation here preceded the idea of Gutierrez's involvement, it's because we have seen this movie before and it usually involves the same characters. That's not baseless speculation, that's bringing your experience to bear.

[EFerrari]

27. His Honor is right. The government is solidly left

and has engaged Big Oil by demanding that Chevron clean up the disaster they left in the Amazon.

The left has no reason to do this, the right has every reason to do this.

[nodehopper]

31. he sure manages to seem very "left" and"green" on the international arena

He is not nearly that "left" in reality, and he has a lot of opposition from the left in Ecuador. He did not demand that Chevron clean up the disaster in Amazon--he supports the Aguinda v. Texaco lawsuit that started in 1994, but he has to support it because in a progeny lawsuit, Republic of Ecuador v. ChevronTexaco the Ecuadorian state itself became a plaintiff against Chevron--this was prior to his presidency. While he is tougher on oil than his predecessors, he spends all the political capital he gets from being "anti-oil" on promoting open-pit mining. His mining and water laws are a big point of mobilization against him by the left, primarily by indigenous and rural campesino groups. At this point a left-wing coup against him is as likely as a right-wing one; perhaps more so, given that coups in Ecuador traditionally tend to come from the left.

[EFerrari]

34. No, a left wing coup is not just as likely as a right wing coup at all.

I think that the attempted co-opting of left wing concerns by the right may be muddying your assessment.

And I hope the left continues to pressure him to the left.

[nodehopper]

38. I don't understand this statement

"I think that the attempted co-opting of left wing concerns by the right may be muddying your assessment."

I work with left-wing/progressive groups in Ecuador, including Indian communities in the Oriente and communities in the copper-rich zone in the North. My assessment of Correa is based on their concerns, and my witnessing of the ways in which things like Correa's mining law is affecting their communities, not on American media PR demonization of Correa.

[Cal Carpenter]

35. I agree with you that Correa's leftism is relative

Sure compared to the so-called left here in the US, he seems very left, but you're right, he has some strong and valid left-wing opposition. He's no commie, and he's no saint.

I am curious to see how this plays out, what it's really about. I could be totally wrong but I'm still getting the feeling that this is a right-wing effort.

[EFerrari]

36. The left wing doesn't have the power to subvert the national police.

Why would they go that way and not through democratic channels, anyway?

It's not the left.

[nodehopper]

39. "Why would they go that way and not through democratic channels?"

You realize that virtually all the coups in Ecuador in the recent history have come from the left? Just look back at the 2000 post-dollarization ousting of Mahuad, which was led by indigenous and labor leaders, and was eventually a civilian-military collaboration? Or the ousting of Gutierrez was by the left after he did some unconstitutional things to the Ecuadorian Supreme court.

[Bacchus39]

42. your knowledge will prove inconvenient to some

therefore, it will likely be ignored.

[EFerrari]

45. I just saw that a group of 50 people that entered violently

into the offices of the public teevee station were led by the opposition attorney Pablo Guerrero, rep of the ex pres.

[nodehopper]

47. I am not saying it can't be a right-wing coup

But if it is, I want to know that based on facts, not on assumptions about how left Correa is, or how there are no left-wing coups, both of which ignore the political history of Ecuador. This is not specifically about your comment per se, just this whole thread.

[EFerrari]

50. Sure. No problem, nodehopper.

We're all just piecing this together.

[nodehopper]

40. also

During the 2000 indigenous uprisings, which could hardly be called right-wing, both the military and the police refused to act against them, allowing the protestor coalition to enter the National Assembly, and to facilitate regime change.

[naaman fletcher]

44. Do you have any information on that?

Or are you just assuming such?

[nodehopper]

48. there are a lots of assumptions in this thread that directly contradict Ecuador's history n/t

[valerief]

3. Wow! nt

[mike_c]

4. nothing speaks truth to power like barricades and burning tires....

eom

[EFerrari]

12. Except in this case, it was the right wing that tried to couch

the coup attempt as disgruntled workers. There were no cuts to police bonus pay.

[Bacchus39]

15. that's not what the press is reporting, you are just making things up

"The striking police were angered by a law passed by Congress on Wednesday that would end the practice of giving members of Ecuador's military and police medals and bonuses with each promotion. It would also extend from five to seven years the usual period required for before a subsequent promotion."




http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100930/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_ecuador_protest

[mike_c]

37. yeah, when the cops are at the barricades it certainly begs the question...

...who's on the other side!

[Judi Lynn]

5. Unrest rocks Ecuador as troops take airport

Unrest rocks Ecuador as troops take airport
8 mins ago
Hugh Bronstein

Unrest erupted in Ecuador on Thursday with soldiers taking control of the main airport, police protesting in the streets and looting in the capital while President Rafael Correa looked at dissolving a deadlocked Congress.

In confused and chaotic scenes in Quito, scores of soldiers swarmed over the landing strip of the international airport, which was closed to flights. Witnesses said there was looting in Quito and in the city of Guayaquil, and that many workers and school students were being sent home. Elsewhere in Quito, uniformed police burnt tires in protest at a proposal to cut their bonuses.

The OPEC-member country of 14 million people has a long history of political instability. Street protests toppled three presidents during economic turmoil in the decade before Correa took power.

Members of Correa's own left-wing party are blocking legislative proposals aimed at cutting state costs, prompting him to mull disbanding Congress, a move that would let him rule by decree until new elections, one of his ministers said. Armed forces' head Ernesto Gonzalez said troops remained loyal to Correa. "We are in a state of law. We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president," he told reporters.

More:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100930/tpl-uk-ecuador-correa-9562ed3.html

[Judi Lynn]

6. Ecuador military: troops are under Correa's control

Ecuador military: troops are under Correa's control
QUITO, Sept 30 | Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:09pm EDT

Reuters) - Ecuador's top military commander said on Thursday that soldiers in the South American country remained loyal to President Rafael Correa.

Separately, Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said there had been no popular uprising, but that a demonstration by police was unacceptable and intolerable.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3028846920100930

[lunatica]

7. Ricardo Patino said...demonstration by police was unacceptable and intolerable

I wonder what he plans to do about it. Send in troops and police?

[pampango]

8. "The protesters carried signs demanding the government give more respect to the military..."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11447519

"The Spanish government described the protests as an "attempted coup d'etat", according to the AFP news agency, but Ecuador's Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino played down their severity.

"This is not a popular mobilisation; it is not a popular uprising. It is an uprising by the police who are ill-informed," he told the TV network, Telesur."

"Despite the unrest, the head of Armed Forces Joint Command, Gen Luis Ernesto Gonzalez Villarreal, said the troops remained loyal.

"We live in a state which is governed by laws, and we are subordinate to the highest authority which is the president of the republic," he told a news conference."

That sounds like a good old fashioned military coup. Let's hope this ends well.

[COLGATE4]

9. If I were Correa I wouldn't feel too comfortable right now - the

good folks there have a habit of overthrowing governments with whom they are no longer enamored.

[EFerrari]

13. Well, this is a good old military coup and likely with support from your government.

That's how most democratic government go down in Latin America in favor of US friendly guys like Pinochet.

[naaman fletcher]

57. what kind of military coup doesn't include the military? nt

[The Magistrate]

58. Matters Were Not So Clear Six Hours Ago, Sir

This seems to have been thrown by police and elements of the Air Force, but the Army remained loyal.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

14. These are not the "good folks". These are disgruntled police officers at the very least. nt

[Toucano]

49. While that may be true, the "good folks" in this case are not the armed

madmen, but the unarmed civilians in the streets trying to protect their democracy with which they are very much enamorados.

[goforit]

18. Economic hit man strikes again.

[Bacchus39]

19. state of seige declared, military takes over suspends civil liberties

The government declared a state of siege Thursday after rebellious police angered by a law that cuts their benefits plunged this small South American nation into chaos, roughing up the president, shutting down airports and blocking highways in a nationwide strike.

Incensed officers shoved President Rafael Correa around and pelted him with tear gas and water when he tried to speak at a police barracks in the capital. Correa, 47, was hospitalized from the effects of the gas.

The state of siege puts the military in charge of public order, suspending civil liberties and allowing soldiers to carry out searches without a warrant.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100930/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_ecuador_protest

[ProudDad]

20. Your tax dollars at work...

"Change" you can believe in?

[Odin2005]

21. Right-wing fuckwits! aided by the CIA, no doubt!

:grr:

[nodehopper]

55. why bother with facts?

[Socal31]

59. ......

[EFerrari]

61. LOL. After seeing your post, I googled Lucio Gutierrez CIA

just for the hell of it. Gutierrez is the politician implicated in this coup attempt. He ran against Correa and lost and before that, he was elected President on a reform platform but was kicked out of office for being too close to Washington and for, well, being corrupt as hell.

Well, turns out that one of the reasons he was kick out of office was that he took campaign contributions from cocaine traffickers.

lol

Ecuador: Drug scandal rocks Gutiérrez government
By Bill Vann
6 December 2003

The government of President Lucio Gutiérrez in Ecuador has been rocked by reports exposing links between his January 21st Patriotic Society Party and accused drug traffickers. In the face of ample evidence of wholesale corruption and with growing demands that the Ecuadorian president resign, the Bush administration has solidarized itself with his government. Washington fears that, in the wake of the recent revolt in Bolivia, the entire Andean region will be swept by political upheavals.

The Quito daily El Comercio revealed last month that brothers Luis and César Fernández—charged along with a dozen others in October with cocaine trafficking—had contributed $30,000 to Gutiérrez’s 2000 election campaign.


https://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/dec2003/ecua-d06.shtml

It's really not much of a leap at all. :)

[Judi Lynn]

62. Superior article. He's the one who made more of Ecuador available to US military,

according to the article.

Correa ran his first campaign with the promise he would shut down Manta Air Base and won very easily. That base was not popular with the citizens.

I originally believed anyone who could take a photo like this would have to be O.K.:

http://eduardovarasc.files.wordpress.com.nyud.net:8090/2009/05/wd3.jpg
Clearly that was stupid! Getting a good look at the facts should clear out anyone's head on this man. Clearly it won't be a huge surprise to Ecuadoreans to learn he was connected to this.

http://www.narconews.com.nyud.net:8090/images/LucioBush.jpg http://www.losblogueros.net.nyud.net:8090/fotos/bastaya.jpg http://www.internationalist.org.nyud.net:8090/gutierreza251102www.jpg

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. Crowds of people are surrounding the hospital trying to get past rogue police officers.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

23. Apparently the foreign minister Ricardo Patiño has been reunited with the president. nt