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[source: sovernet-l; Thu, 27 Jan 2000 14:09:32]
 

WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS
ISSUE #521, JANUARY 23, 2000
NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK
339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012
(212) 674-9499 <wnu@igc.org>
 
 *1. ECUADOR: PRESIDENT OUSTED BY INDIGENOUS UPRISING, COUP
 
 As of Jan. 23, an indigenous uprising in Ecuador appeared to have
 been defeated after forcing out President Jamil Mahuad Witt in a
 coup backed by the military. Vice President Gustavo Noboa
 Bejarano announced on Jan. 22 that he had taken over as president
 of Ecuador; that he would continue the unpopular economic
 policies (including a dollarization plan) and state of emergency
 instituted by Mahuad [see Updates #519, 520]; and that those who
 had led the uprising would be punished. Mahuad has remained in
 Ecuador; in a television message on Jan. 22, he reiterated that
 he had not resigned but rather had been forced out of office, but
 he urged support for Noboa as president. Thousands of indigenous
 protesters left the capital on Jan. 22 following what they called
 a "betrayal" by military leaders who had briefly supported their
 uprising. Indigenous leaders announced that after the communities
 return home, they will begin blockading highways, thus preventing
 the arrival of supplies to main cities such as Quito and
 Guayaquil. [La Republica (Lima, Peru) 1/23/00 from correspondent,
 wire services]
 
 The "popular uprising" was scheduled to begin on Jan. 15 with the
 aim of forcing Mahuad from office, dismantling the three powers
 of state and installing a government of "national salvation." The
 movement was led by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities
 of Ecuador (CONAIE) together with the Patriotic Front, which
 groups unions, student associations, campesino organizations,
 leftist parties and other social and grassroots sectors.
 
 On Jan. 17 indigenous protesters set up highway blockades around
 the country, although many were subsequently dismantled by the
 army. A state of emergency suspending the right of association
 remained in effect. Also on Jan. 17, an explosive device of
 medium power went off in the city of Cuenca at the offices of
 Mahuad's party, Popular Democracy; there were minor damages and
 no injuries. [Hoy (NY) 1/18/00 from AP; El Diario-La Prensa (NY)
 1/18/00 from AP]
 
 Despite the presence of thousands of troops encircling Quito to
 prevent indigenous protesters from entering the capital, some
 3,000 indigenous people managed to slip into the city on Jan. 17
 and 18. Demonstrators in Quito reportedly set fire to an army
 tank on Jan. 18. However, as of Jan. 18 media reports were still
 predicting that the protests would be weaker than those which led
 to the removal of President Abdala Bucaram from office in early
 1997 [see Update #367]. [Hoy (NY) 1/19/00 from AP; ED-LP 1/19/00;
 Agencia Informativa Pulsar 1/18/00]
 
 But on Jan. 19, the ranks of indigenous protesters occupying
 Quito swelled from hundreds to more than 25,000, according to
 CONAIE [or 10,000 according to many press reports]. While 6,000
 indigenous people stayed at the main gathering point, Parque del
 Arbolito, another 12,000 were stopped by security forces from
 reaching the Carondelet presidential palace. Police used tear gas
 to prevent a group of small-scale vendors from joining the
 indigenous protests, and threw leaflets from helicopters urging
 protesters to respect private property. Blockades of highways in
 the countryside also continued, although the military was able to
 dismantle many of them. [Hoy (NY) 1/20/00 from EFE]
 
 Indigenous groups blocked roads in the north, and transportation
 workers in Cuenca staged a 48-hour strike. [Miami Herald 1/22/00]
 The Coordinating Committee of Social Movements reported that the
 uprising had virtually paralyzed activity in the south, central,
 northern and coastal regions of the country, while the Amazon
 region was shut down with a strike by oil workers. In Guayaquil,
 thousands of unemployed people and street vendors demonstrated in
 support of the uprising. [Pulsar 1/19/00]
 
 On Jan. 19, meeting in a "Parliament of the Peoples of Ecuador"
 which was set up in Quito during the week of Jan. 10, the
 indigenous movement called for the joint command of the armed
 forces to step in and help resolve the national crisis. [ED-LP
 1/20/00 from AFP] According to the Quito daily Hoy, a
 relationship between the army colonels and CONAIE had been
 developing since November, with a tentative plan that if the
 indigenous movement could bring together other sectors in an
 uprising in Quito, the military would step in to support it. [Hoy
 (Quito) 1/22/00]
 
 Taxi and bus drivers announced on Jan. 21 that they were joining
 the uprising. Later in the day, indigenous protesters stormed the
 Congress building, supported by some 500 military personnel,
 including a group of colonels. The soldiers allowed some 1,500
 demonstrators to occupy the empty building, then joined with them
 in declaring that the government had been dismantled.
 Demonstrators seized the abandoned presidential palace, and
 members of the Patriotic Front--which groups the trade union
 federation CEOSL and the Popular Front coalition of grassroots
 and labor organizations--occupied the empty Supreme Court
 building. [BBC 1/22/00; Red Ecuatoriana de Derechos Humanos y
 Sindicales REDHS-CEOSL Boletin 12, 1/21/00; La Hora (Quito)
 website update 1/21/00 from EFE]
 
 A survey by the polling firm Cedatos showed 71% of respondents
 supported the popular movement and 64% approved of the occupation
 of the Congress building, although 79% favored maintaining
 constitutional order. Only 7% declared support for Mahuad. [ED-LP
 1/22/00]
 
 On Jan. 21, Mahuad fled Carondelet and took refuge at an air
 force base in Quito. "There is no resignation nor is there
 separation [of Mahuad from the presidency]," insisted Foreign
 Minister Benjamin Ortiz. "There is a change of headquarters of
 President Mahuad." [ED-LP 1/22/00 from AFP] The same day, CONAIE
 president Antonio Vargas announced the formation of a "Junta of
 National Salvation" including himself as Ecuador's vice president
 and Col. Lucio Gutierrez Borbua as president; Col. Fausto Cobo as
 chief of the armed forces joint command; Col. Luis Aguas as army
 chief; Col. Gustavo Lalama as chief of the army staff; Col. Jorge
 Brito as chief of the Ground Forces; and former justice Carlos
 Solorzano as president of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ).
 Col. Fausto Teran, who was not listed in the junta, had declared
 that he was "the only member of the police to be in agreement
 with this change." [ED-LP 1/22/00 from AFP; REDHS-CEOSL 1/21/00]
 
 After three hours of negotiations between the armed forces high
 command and the new junta, at 11:30pm on Jan. 21 the formation of
 a new ruling triumvirate was announced, made up of Antonio
 Vargas, Carlos Solorzano and armed forces joint command chief
 Gen. Carlos Mendoza. [LR 1/23/00 from correspondent] The new
 triumvirate said it planned to lift the state of emergency and
 hold elections as soon as possible. [BBC 1/22/00] Then at 2am on
 Jan. 22, Gen. Mendoza pulled out of the triumvirate, and the
 Broad Council of Generals and Admirals announced they would not
 support the uprising. At 3am the military high command contacted
 Noboa to suggest he take over the presidency.
 
 At 7am on Jan. 22, at the headquarters of the Armed Forces Joint
 Command, Noboa signed Resolution No. 001, removing Mahuad from
 office because of permanent absence and elevating himself to the
 presidency. Present at the signing were Army chief Telmo
 Sandoval, Air Force representative Fernando Donoso, Navy
 representative Ramiro Monteverde and Police Commander Jorge
 Villarruel. The resolution declaring Noboa president was then
 ratified by the Congress in a special session in Guayaquil. [LR
 1/23/00 from correspondent] In his Jan. 22 television address,
 Mahuad condemned the events of Jan. 21 as a "national and
 international shame," but wished Noboa luck in the presidency.
 [BBC 1/23/00]
 
 In a statement issued by the US Embassy in Quito, the US State
 Department said it was "watching closely" as events unfold in
 Ecuador. "While we regret the circumstances that led President
 Mahuad to call for public support for a Noboa presidency, his
 statement is a magnanimous gesture to pave the way to restore the
 country to constitutional order," the State Department said. [MH
 1/23/00]
 
 *2. DID US THREATS QUASH ECUADOR UPRISING?
 
 Major factors sparking the rebellion by officers were army
 discontent over Mahuad's decision to cut the military budget, and
 plummeting real wages. [LR 1/23/00 from EFE] In an interview with
 an Ecuadoran television reporter, an unidentified military
 officer who had joined the insurrection complained that since
 Mahuad took office in August 1998, the value of his salary had
 declined from $1,100 a month to less than $300. [New York Times
 1/23/00]
 
 In recent months, Ecuador's recession-plagued economy has shrunk
 by 7%, while inflation soared to 40.7%. The "dollarization" plan
 announced by Mahuad on Jan. 9 was unpopular with the indigenous
 and grassroots sectors, who said it would further impoverish them
 by increasing prices but keeping salaries low. [BBC 1/23/00]
 
 Another factor in the uprising was a lack of confidence in the
 democratic system. A 1997 poll across Latin America conducted by
 Latinobarometro, sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank
 (IDB) and the European Union, showed that Ecuador was the Latin
 American country with the lowest regard for democracy as a system
 of government. Only 41% of Ecuadorans agreed with the statement
 that "democracy is preferable" to other forms of government, as
 opposed to 86% of Uruguayans, 75% of Argentines, 50% of
 Brazilians and 44% of Paraguayans. [MH 1/23/00]
 
 Outside economic and political factors ultimately influenced the
 military high command to abandon the rebellion. Mendoza said the
 quick decision to elevate Noboa to the presidency was made after
 discussions with US officials, who warned that failure to restore
 power to the elected government would provoke a freeze in aid and
 an investment boycott, like that imposed on Cuba. Speaking on
 Quito radio from Washington on Jan. 21, Peter Romero, US
 Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, had
 warned leaders of the uprising that they faced "political and
 economic isolation, carrying with them even worse misery for the
 Ecuadoran people." [Romero served as ambassador to Ecuador from
 1993 to 1996.] [NYT 1/23/00; Sunday Herald (UK) 1/23/00] In
 Washington, the Organization of American States (OAS) had
 condemned the uprising and urged support for Mahuad's government.
 [CNN 1/22/00]
 
 While CONAIE announced on Jan. 22 that it will never accept
 Noboa's presidency [ED-LP 1/23/00 from AFP], not all the
 protesters were upset at the results of the uprising. "Why would
 we be disappointed?" Luis Fernando Amaya responded to a
 reporter's inquiry. "If [Noboa] tries to do the same thing as
 Jamil [Mahuad], we Indians will rise up again." [MH 1/23/00]
 
 *3. ECUADOR: REPRESSION ACCOMPANIES INDIGENOUS UPRISING
 
 On Jan. 15 in Quito, joint units of heavily armed police and
 military troops wearing ski-masks and accompanied by agents in
 civilian dress raided the homes of three grassroots leaders,
 smashing down their doors, pointing guns at family members, and
 hauling them away. The three arrested were Jose Chavez, president
 of the Ecuadoran Federation of Free Trade Union Organizations
 (CEOSL); Ciro Guzman Aldaz, national president of the leftist
 Popular Democratic Movement (MPD); and Luis Villacis Maldonado,
 president of the Popular Front, an alliance of labor and
 grassroots groups. The arrests were apparently carried out
 without warrants; all three leaders were released on Jan. 19. In
 Ambato another leader was arrested; two more were detained in
 Cuenca.
 
 The Permanent Assembly of Human Rights (APDH) condemned the
 arrests and other preventive repression tactics used by security
 forces. According to the APDH, indigenous communities outside
 Quito were occupied by military troops to prevent anyone from
 leaving for Quito; and indigenous people were pulled off inter-
 city buses just because they were indigenous and were forced to
 return home on foot. [APDH 1/17/00; Pulsar 1/18/00; El Telegrafo
 (Guayaquil) 1/17/00; REDHS-CEOSL Boletin 11, 1/19/00]
 
 Hundreds of demonstrators in Ecuador's main cities were arrested
 and beaten by police on Jan. 17 and 18. In Portoviejo, in the
 coastal province of Manabi, police unsucessfully used tear gas to
 try to stop campesinos and urban demonstrators; soldiers were
 later brought in and the battles lasted through Jan. 18. [Pulsar
 1/19/00] One person was reported killed and three others injured
 in the Portoviejo clashes. In Guayaquil, Ecuador's commercial
 capital, looters fought with police and set fire to cars. [BBC
 1/22/00]
 
 Following the collapse of the uprising, Vargas and other
 indigenous and grassroots leaders went into hiding to avoid
 arrest. [LR 1/23/00 from AFP] Gen. Mendoza had asked that the
 midlevel officers who backed the uprising not be punished [Sunday
 Herald 1/23/00], but on Jan. 22 at least six officers were
 arrested, including Col. Lucio Gutierrez, the apparent leader of
 the rebellion within army ranks. The APDH expressed concern that
 it remains unclear where arrested rebel officers are being held.
 Army colonels Gutierrez, Cobo, Lalalma, Brito and Aguas, plus
 army captain Sandino Torres and noncommissioned officer Patricio
 Robayo, as well as police major Victor Avenatti and Col. Teran,
 are among those whose whereabouts are unknown, according to APDH.
 [LR 1/23/00 from EFE]
 

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