El Comercio - Quito - Ecuador | 2 de junio del 2008

http://tinyurl.com/6bhwzg

A request for impeachment of Bustamante (Minister of the Interior)

Editorial Policy

Officials of the Superintendency of Companies requests the dismissal of Minister of the Interior and Police, Fernando Bustamante.

The cause is the "police repression" from which they were victims, the previous Friday by the National Police. That day, three officials were asphyxiated and others were beaten by the National Police during the attempt of the former superintendent of companies, Francisco Arellano, to resume his duties. The police intervention involved about 200 uniformed groups of the elite National Police.

The counsel for this group of employees, Pablo Guerrero, said they will travel today to Montecristi to ask the Bureau of Law and Control to start the process of formal inquiry by the Secretary of State. "This is not the first case, as this happened earlier in December when demonstrators from Dayuma (Orellana) were suppressed violently," he said.

The response of officials came after president Rafael Correa announced that he would seek to initiate legal action against all employees that prevented the entry of Francisco Arellano. He also assured that he denounces acts of corruption.

[translation ebear]

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This one calls for some background and commentary:

Short time ago, Francisco Arellano, Superintendent of Companies, was removed from his position by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for violation of election laws. The offence? Coercing employees of his ministry to contribute "voluntarily" to Acuerdo Pais. This took the form of a document, which would arrive on your desk with a "voluntary" amount already entered, which you were expected to sign. The not so subtle implication was that if you didn't, your career, and perhaps even your job would be in jepoardy. Oh did I forget to mention? This guy was Correa's former professor. Correa of course defended him publicly and denounced his accusers.

Unfortunately for both, there was a clearly documented trail of evidence, and several employees testified (that took guts) to the effect that the TSE had no choice but fire Arellano.

Act 2. Arellano gets a district civil court judge to overturn the TSE ruling and reinstate him, to the great frustration and anger of those who stood up, counting on fair and impartial treatment before the law. Taking their case to the street, many of them set up a blockade of the ministry building and tried to prevent Arellano from entering. Of course he had a lot of cops with him to make sure he'd get in. Tear gas was used and some people were beaten. That's what this is about.

Correa's response? Take legal action against the protestors. Send a clear warning to anyone who takes their rights seriously that they face proscecution by order of the president himself. Now, who's going to stand up to that?

It's important to note that the original congress that AP replaced were themselves driven out of office by street protests which became quite menacing, so it's not like they haven't used this tactic themselves. All this goes to show what kind of people you're dealing with: An effete layer of neo-socialist reformers, riding atop an authoritarian regime with the same tactics and tendencies as the previous one. Worse actually, because lacking the luxury of complete control that come with years in office, the impulse to excess is more marked. So is the paranoia.

One of these days, Ecuador is will get a truly democratic, representative government, with proper divisions of power, equality before the law, and well structured institutional checks and balances.

One of these days...

ebear