Two ex Presidents of Ecuador, Adbala Bucaram and Gustavo Noboa returned to the country after having corruption charges dropped against them by the Supreme Court. Bucaram was exiled in Panama since 1997 and Noboa in the Dominican Republic since 2003. This is the straw that could break the proverbial camel’s back in Ecuador.
On April 5th various opposition groups held meetings and mobilizations to protest against the government headed by Lucio Gutierrez. They hold Gutierrez responsible for allowing the return of these two fugitives from justice. They were also holding him to account for being the intellectual author of the institutional crisis and the application of authoritarian and neoliberal policies.
All in the club!
The judge who took these decisions is in fact, The President of the Supreme Court, Guillermo Castro. Castro was elected unconstitutionally on December 8th by a majority supporting the government, and who is a close friend of Bucaram. In spite of the fact that several magistrates have asked Castro not to participate in this case, he went ahead and as a consequence absolved Bucaram. In order to avoid the appearance of dropping charges as a "favor" to Bucaram, he also pardoned Gustavo Noboa and Alberto Dahik who was living in Costa Rica. Dahik’s connection to Bucaram is noted* below.
Although the Gutierrez government has tried to wash its hands of this case, the opposition has accused it of being directly responsible for the pardons. They did so because it was the government that called for an Extraordinary Congress and set up the parliamentary majority which "reorganized" the Supreme Court of Justice. This opened up the possibility that an ex-fugitive from justice, such as Bucaram, could in the future occupy the Presidency of the same!
In addition, press reports show that Bucaram’s pardon was evidence of the pact between him and Gutierrez which commenced in September 2004 during a meeting they had in Panama. The relationship between the two is not surprising since Gutierrez was Bucaram’s batman when he held the Presidency of Ecuador for seven months from August 1996 to February 1997.
To set aside and file these three cases, Guillermo Castro used procedural reasons, maintaining that the judicial process against Bucaram, Noboa and Dahik was null and void since they had not been previously judged by Congress. At the same time, he did not utter any opinion on the alleged crimes for which they were accused.
The alleged crimes committed
Bucaram was accused on two counts: Misuse of State funds and the irregular purchase of school backpacks for public schools. Bucaram fled the country on February 6, 1997 following a popular uprising that forced him from office. In the first trial, the ex State Comptroller Benjamín Terán Varea determined that, hours after he fled the country, US$3.7 million vanished. The money was stored in plastic bags according to the confession of Alejandro Munoz, one of Bucaram’s body guards, who was subsequently gunned down. The present Finance Minister, Mauricio Yépez, authorized the payment of the checks involved to release the cash.
*The question of reserve funds has also implicated Alberto Dahik, an economist of Arab origin with a marked allegiance to neoliberal policies. Dahik was Vice President of the Republic during the conservative government of Sixto Durán Ballén (1992-1996). Paradoxically, Dahik simultaneously held the vice presidency of the organization called International Transparency. Dahik was in charge of a total of US$7.8 million and these funds were used to bribe certain deputies and Supreme Court Magistrates to pass laws and make legal decisions favorable to the government. Another part of these funds were used to pay private expenses of Dahik who was building a house in Guayaquil at that time. He was accused of "trafficking of influences and illicit enrichment". Dahil fled to Costa Rica in 1995 after being sentenced to a prison term by the Supreme Court.
The third member of this gang is Gustavo Noboa (2000 – 2003). He was accused of irregularities in the renegotiation of the country’s external debt by favoring bond holders who ended up making million dollar profits at the expense of the country.
Welcomed back as a hero!
A few days after being informed of the decisions taken by Guillermo Castro, Bucaram, Noboa and Dahik returned to Ecuador. Almost all the TV stations gave wide coverage to the return of these fugitives from justice. But there was no mention of the crimes they committed, thus using media omission to obscure their alleged wrongdoings. Bucaram’s return has most impact since his supporters had organized a rally in Guayaquil, as if it were the return of a messiah to Ecuador.
Protests spark repression
The fact that their return was a matter of blatant impunity caused a wave of indignation and anger in Quito and other regional mountain cities. At midday on April 5th, a citizens’ assembly with representatives from all over the country was headed by the Mayor of Quito, General Paco Moncoya and the Prefect of Pichincha, Ramiro Gonzalez. The local authorities from six provinces and cities took part, with groups from the Democratic Left Party and the indigenous party, the Pachakutik.
After several interventions which were characterized by the demand for action-not-words, some three thousand demonstrators, shouting "Out Lucio", headed to the congress building to demand that deputies should immediately dismiss the Supreme Court of Justice. The demonstrators were violently repressed and dispersed with tear gas by police. The Red Cross reported that around 100 people including old people and children were affected with symptoms such as asphyxia, fainting and convulsions.
The coming days will see an escalation of street actions across the country. On April 11th, there has been a strike call in Pichincha province and the indigenous peoples are calling for mass mobilizations.
The issues are much wider
The social organizations are concerned, not only for this decision of the Supreme Court, but also for other important issues such as the Free Trade Agreement, being negotiated with the US and the so-called "Gopher Law" sent to Congress and marked as urgent by the Gutierrez government. This law will allow the reform of 18 legal entities and facilitate the privatization of the Social Security System (Sounds like Bush Administration’s policy!), electricity utilities, flexibility of labor laws and the handing over of several very profitable state oil wells to energy multinationals. All of this completely contradicts Gutierrez’s electoral platform, when he sold himself as a second "Hugo Chavez".
Corruption is the same but…so is the collective history
This account of rampant corruption in Ecuador from the President of the republic - to the Supreme Court - to the multi-million dollar thefts by elected officials is par for the course in many Latin American countries. The next stage will be the privatization of public utilities and the handing over of national and natural resources to the hyenas of the global corporate empire.
Until social organizations unify their efforts, these criminal acts against the interests of the Ecuadorean people will continue. These same crimes are being committed against the national interests of Peru, Colombia and Bolivia - and the people know it. Venezuela is the exception, since oil revenues are now benefitting the majority of the population. These economic/social policies are enshrined in the Venezuelan constitution.
Readers should bear in mind that the history of independence and self-determination in all these countries revolve around the Liberator, Simon Bolivar – hence the "Bolivarian" Revolution in Venezuela. With this common thread still alive in the collective consciousness of the Andean nations, it may be only a question of time before the Bolivarian revolution ripples out to stop these injustices and call for Constituent Assemblies in these countries. This rippling effect can already be felt Bolivia and among indigenous people in neighboring countries.
This phenomenon could result in a nonviolent revolution like the one taking place in Venezuela or it could result in a bloody revolution. A lot depends on how these U.S. backed regimes, like the one in Ecuador, respond to the people. Either they will think it in their best interest to sacrifice innocents in a bloody revolution - or they will see the futility of taking on mass uprisings of the people who appear to be finding ways to unite and fight to protect their national interests and the future of their children and grand children.
"Without justice, there cannot be peace"
- Hugo Chavez Frias
© Copyright 2005 by AxisofLogic.com
You can read more analyses on events in Latin America by Carlos Herrera by going to: Articles by Carlos Herrera - 2005
Axis of Logic is also publishing his series on the rapid evolution of Bolivarian movements in Bolivia: Series on Bolivia
You can contact Carlos Herrera at: carlos@axisoflogic.com