MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ecuador: no light at the end of the tunnel

Ecuador's new president Alfredo Palacio officially took office Thursday midday and immediately named the main ministers of his “technical, non political” cabinet.

Present at the ceremony were the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff whose support withdrawal for former president Lucio Gutierrez was decisive in his downfall.

Mr. Gutierrez, who had taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy Wednesday after a crowd stormed Quito's airport preventing him from leaving the country, was granted political asylum and a Brazilian Air Force plane is ready to fly him out of Ecuador.

Wednesday vice-president Palacio was sworn in after Congress ousted elected President Lucio Gutierrez "for abandoning his post", climaxing weeks of street protests and political turmoil.

At least two people died in the protests when people by the thousands took to the streets of Quito to protest and surround the presidential palace early this week.

Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Commander General Victor Hugo Rosero called on Ecuadorians to uphold the rule of law and help restore order in the country. "Reconciliation in the country is not achieved through chaos, violence and disorder in the streets" emphasized the military chief. However crowds in the streets of Quito were now demanding that "all politicians" and "Congress members" be sacked. Efforts on behalf of democracy "should not be used to sink us into chaos and anarchy" added the Catholic Church while at the same time urging the armed forces to "cooperate actively in consolidating the rule of law".

Ecuador has a history of political instability. It has had seven presidents since 1996, three of them including Mr Gutierrez, were forced out of office. Mr. Gutierrez as an Army colonel rose to prominence by leading a successful movement to topple then-President Jamil Mahuad in 2000 with the backing of the country's several indigenous organizations. He was then elected president in 2002 and came to power as a populist, anti-corruption left-winger in 2002, but lost the backing of many allies by implementing free-market policies. Faced with economic problems he opted to follow IMF recommendations which cost him the support of his indigenous allies and his political weakness encouraged the more traditional political system to oust him.

The events leading up to the current crisis began in December when Mr. Gutierrez sacked the entire Supreme Court and replaced the Judges with figures linked to the president and his political allies. However the unprecedented and controversial decision sparked mounting public opinion opposition and a whole review of the decision was in process when violence began to spread.

Faced with growing street violence the Armed Forces withdrew support for the administration and Mr. Gutierrez was ousted by Congress.

In spite of higher than expected revenue from oil exports flowing into the economy, Mr. Gutierrez popularity had progressively declined from 60% when elected to 5% recently, according to opinion polls.

Last November he survived a drive by opponents to impeach him on allegations of misuse of public funds during preceding local elections.

However with the ousting of Mr. Gutierrez and president Palacio in office this doesn't mean the situation is heading for normal.

In such an unstable climate it's hard to conceive how Mr. Palacio and his "technical cabinet" will complete the current mandate without having to call for anticipated elections.

In effect the manipulation of the Supreme Court enabled several Ecuadorian political leaders living in exile with pending charges of corruption, to return to the country, among them Abdala Bucaram, a former populist president who was ousted in 1997.

Nicknamed "El loco" (madman or nuts) he's adored by Ecuador's poorest people and, coincidence, Colonel Lucio Gutierrez was former president Abdala Bucaram's military liaison.