2010 Ecuadorian crisis
The 2010 Ecuadorian crisis took place on 30 September 2010, when National Police operatives blockaded highways, occupied the National Assembly, blocked Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito[1] and José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil,[2] and took control of the premises of Ecuador TV, in what they claimed was a strike to oppose a government-sponsored law that supposedly reduced their benefits.
[21] According to an Ecuavisa report, government sources indicated that Correa considered dissolving parliament and calling for new elections due to disagreements within his own party with respect to his concerns over the new legislation.
[53] Lucio Gutiérrez, a former president ousted by a popular uprising and leader of the opposition Sociedad Patriótica Party who had participated in the coup d'état against Jamil Mahuad,[54] said that the only person responsible for the situation was Correa himself and his "abusive, corrupt and prepotent government".
[59] In response to the 2008 report, US ambassador Heather Hodges stated that the US "works with" the Ecuadorian military and police "on objectives that are very important for security", including the "fight against drug trafficking.
"[clarification needed][59] Pepe Escobar of Asia Times also alleged that "everyone in South America" knows of US involvement, as he cited similar reaction to the Honduran coup.
[62][dubious – discuss] Venezuelan-American lawyer Eva Golinger claimed that the coup attempt was part of a systematic, US-supported plan to destabilise member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA).
Golinger claimed that certain "progressive" social groups received "financing and guidelines in order to provoke destabilising situations in the country that go beyond the natural expressions of criticism and opposition to a government."
In the statement, Pachakutik leader Cléver Jiménez said that the "situation" of the police and armed forces in the coup attempt "should be understood as a just action by public servants, whose rights have been made vulnerable.
"[60] Golinger alleged that Pachakutik was funded by NED and USAID and that its call for Correa's resignation and its support for the mutiny was an example of the US plans to destabilise ALBA member states.
[70] They were released the next day but barred from leaving Ecuador[70] pending an investigation for "negligence, rebellion and attempted assassination," according to prosecutor Gonzalo Marco Freire.
[71][non-primary source needed] On 5 October, Fidel Araujo, a close collaborator of Lucio Gutiérrez, was detained for investigations about his role in the uprising, as TV has shown him among the rebellious police in Quito, in the early hours of the strike.
[citation needed] After the day's events, four people were confirmed dead, one of whom was a university student, and the others were a police officer and two military personnel involved in the rescue operation.
[38] The chief of police, Freddy Martinez, took responsibility, and resigned following the attacks saying "A commander shown such lack of respect by his subordinates cannot stay in charge.
[74] On 1 October, Correa issued a three-day national mourning period for the dead,[74] but did not revoke the five-day state of emergency as the country gradually returned to normality.
However, the international media also cited Correa's popularity among the poor for his spending oil largesse on welfare programmes and a firm stance against foreign investors.
[79] On 2 October, Correa's government and his parliamentary bloc announced an agreement to modify some aspects of the Public Service Organic Law that worried the police and the Armed Forces.
[82][83] On 30 September, the opposition Pachakutik Movement published a press release asking for Correa to resign or be dismissed by the National Assembly under Article 130.2 of the 2008 Constitution, on the grounds that his "dictatorial attitude" had generated "serious political turmoil and internal crisis".
Pachakutik leader Cléver Jiménez said that he "backed the struggle of the country's public servants, including the police troops who have mobilized against the regime's authoritarian policies which are an attempt to eliminate acquired labor rights.
"[60] On 6 October, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and Pachakutik together issued a declaration stating "there never was any attempted coup d'etat, much less a kidnapping, but an event that responded to the uncertain political management of the government that causes popular discontent through permanent aggression, discrimination and violations of human rights consecrated in the Constitution.
[84] The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States unanimously approved a resolution supporting Correa's government and asked all the stakeholders to avoid "exacerbating" the political instability.
[38] The Secretary General of UNASUR, Néstor Kirchner, said "South America cannot tolerate that corporative interests threaten and put pressure on democratically elected governments for fear of losing undue privileges".
[87] An emergency summit was held on the same night of the events, 30 September, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, attended by UNASUR member state Presidents Evo Morales, Sebastián Piñera, José Mujica, Juan Manuel Santos, Hugo Chávez, Alan García, and host (in the absence of the President Pro-Tempore Correa) Cristina Kirchner,[27][88] along with representatives of Brazil, Paraguay, Guyana and Suriname.
[89] There were two notable absentees: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva did not attend because of the impending Brazilian general elections; and Fernando Lugo was absent because he was undertaking chemotherapy.
[91] It was established that, in the event of further attempts, immediate and concrete steps would be taken, such as the closure of borders, suspension of commerce, air traffic, energy, services, and other supplies.
[95] Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Spain also expressed full support for Correa's government.
[97] "Honduras, its people and its government expresses its unqualified support for the democratic institutions of the Republic of Ecuador and advocate return to civic normality," said the Honduran Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
[100] On 4 October, New York University professor of history Greg Grandin stated that "it's still early to tell exactly what happened" and in his initial analysis said, "the government has made a lot of, I think, accurate accusations that it was not just a spontaneous social protest against austerity.
"[101] On 2 July 2012, the Czech Republic gave political asylum to lawyer Pablo Guerrero Martinez, who, with more than 111 people, was accused of sabotage and terrorism by the facts raised in the public channel Ecuador TV on 30 September 2010.
He became well-known together with other 12 persons prosecuted by the government with the name of Los Trece Pablo Guerrero Martinez, lawyer, journalist, activist and defender of freedom of expression in his country, was a candidate for Concentración de Fuerzas Populares in the presidential election of 2009.
The Czech government textually said that: "Criminal proceedings that his country is continuing against the applicant and twelve others have all the elements of a political process, and the penalty he could receive is unrelated to the seriousness of the fault".
