Ousted President Lucio Gutierrez left Ecuador aboard a Brazilian air force plane yesterday, flying to exile in Brazil four days after he was toppled following a week of massive street protests.
Gutierrez left the Brazilian ambassador's residence early yesterday, and headed to the airport to be flown to asylum in Brazil, police said. Gutierrez left the compound shortly after 4am through a back entrance in a police four-wheel-drive, police who were guarding the gate said. A handful of protesters and journalists were waiting in front of another entrance at the time.
A crowd of protesters had waned by the time Gutierrez was moved out of the compound. Earlier about two dozen protesters chanted "Lucio, out!," facing off against about 50 police in riot gear at the ambassador's residence.
"If everything goes as planned, Gutierrez will arrive in Brazil" sometime Sunday foreign ministry spokesman Paulo Gustavo Gustavo said late Saturday, declining to give more information because of security reasons.
"We cannot say when or where Brazil's plane will arrive in Quito," Gustavo said. "I also cannot say whether safe passage was granted by the new Ecuadorean government or if any additional security measures were taken."
Ecuador's new government said Friday that it would let Gutierrez go to Brazil, where he has been granted political asylum, but the Brazilian government said it would only fly Gutierrez out after his safe passage from the ambassador's residence to the airport was guaranteed.
Ecuador had been dragging its feet on granting permission, apparently fearing the reaction of Ecuadoreans outraged that Gutierrez will not be tried for alleged abuse of power, corruption and repression of peaceful protests.
"We aren't going to let him go," Ricardo Jines, a 56-year-old plumber said outside the ambassador's residence. "He has to be tried."
Driven from office
The political crisis was the latest in a long history of political instability in the South American country of 12.5 million people. Since 1997, three presidents have been driven from office in Ecuador before completing their terms.
More than 1,000 Gutierrez loyalists took to the streets in his hometown of Tena on Saturday, protesting the new government and calling his ouster illegal, police in the remote Amazonian town said.
Police said the peaceful rally was led by the ousted leader's brother, Gilmar Gutierrez, along with the town mayor and others in Gutierrez's Patriotic Society party.
In Quito, some predicted unrest during any operation to move Gutierrez to the airport.
Brazil reportedly threatened to withdraw its ambassador, Sergio Florencio Sobrinho, after his car was mobbed Friday night by nearly 200 protesters who prevented him from leaving the compound.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported that high-ranking Brazilian Foreign Ministry official Samuel Pinheiro had a "tough" conversation with his Ecuadorean counterpart. The paper said he protested that the ambassador was "trapped" inside the residence and denied "the conditions to work," a situation that could lead Brazil to withdraw him.
Investigation
The growing tension between Ecuador and Brazil came as the Organization of American States decided to send a high-level diplomatic delegation to investigate whether Gutierrez's removal had been constitutional. Gutierrez, a 48-year-old cashiered army colonel elected in 2002, has said the congressional vote that removed him from office violated the constitution.
In a resolution Friday, the OAS avoided explicit recognition of the government of President Alfredo Palacio, who was sworn in by Congress Wednesday after it removed Gutierrez. It was not known when the OAS delegation would arrive. So far no country has recognized the new government as legitimate.
Vacant
Congress justified dismissing Gutierrez under a constitutional clause allowing lawmakers to remove a president for "abandonment of the post," even though he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders. Backers of the measure argued since Gutierrez had not faithfully carried out his responsibilities, Congress should declare the presidency vacant.
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