>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Ecuador Indians name governing junta > > > > The Toronto Star Jan 21, 12:48 est > > � Business Ecuador Indians name governing junta > > � GTA News QUITO, Ecuador (CP) - Hundreds of Indian > � protesters broke through a barbed-wire > International barrier today and charged past military > News guards, seizing the empty Congress > � National building and declaring a new government. > > � Sports News Congress was not in session, and it was > [Image] unclear if the move would pick up broader > support. The Defence Ministry summoned all > [Image] the armed forces' generals to an urgent > meeting at the ministry. > > Today's A representative of the Indians appeared > Issue at a podium in Congress with an army > Back Issues colonel, but the government said later > that the army fully supports the > government. > > [Webfinder] The occupation came a day after Ecuador's > [Image] government played down the importance of > any Indian takeover of the building. The > [Image] protesters, who had threatened the move > [Other Links] earlier, said the government was corrupt > and did not serve the needs of the poor. > > ''Seizing a building is not the same as > seizing power,'' Interior Minister > Vladimiro Alvarez said Thursday. He said > taking Congress would not threaten the > government. > > The Indians said they no longer recognize > the authority of President Jamil Mahuad, > the elected Congress or the Supreme Court. > > The seizure followed the arrival in Quito > early in the week of about 5,000 Indian > protesters who demanded the resignation of > Mahuad, Congress and the Courts. > > Soldiers in combat uniforms with weapons > stepped aside when the Indians pushed past > the barbed wire. > > ''We let them by because we did not want > to have a confrontation with the people,'' > said Gen. Carlos Moncayo, the army > official in charge of security at > Congress. > > Antonio Vargas, president of the National > Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities > of Ecuador, which claims to represent > Ecuador's four million Indians, appeared > at the congressional podium with an army > colonel named Lucio Gutierrez. > > Gutierrez, dressed in combat fatigues, and > Vargas thrust their arms into the air in a > sign of victory. > > ''Ecuadorean people, rise up and fight > against corruption,'' said Gutierrez. ''We > have started a peaceful but unstoppable > fight against another kind of slavery.'' > > A former member of Congress, Napoleon > Saltos, who belongs to Pachakutik, a party > formed by the Indians in 1995, read a > communique saying a three-man governing > council had been formed. He said the three > members were Vargas, Gutierrez and Carlos > Solorzano, a former president of the > Supreme Court. > > The Indians have been pushing for the > establishment of a ''popular government'' > made up of a representative of the Roman > Catholic Church, a representative of the > armed forces and several civilians named > by the Indians and their supporters among > unions and student groups. > > The protesters are also upset about > Mahuad's plans to scrap Ecuador's currency > for the U.S. dollar. > > In becoming the first South American > country seeking to adopt the dollar, > Ecuador was hoping to curb inflation and > borrow money at lower, U.S. interest > rates, thereby shoring up its battered > image with foreign investors. > > However, this means the country must give > up control of its monetary policy to the > United States. > > Critics contended that Mahaud's decision > to establish the conversion rate at 25,000 > sucres to the dollar would have > devastating repercussions for the > thousands of Ecuadorans whose savings are > in sucres. A year ago, the sucre was > valued at 7,000 to the dollar. > > > Contents copyright � 1996-2000, The Toronto Star. > > This article was found at > > http://www.thestar.com/editorial/news/index.html > > go to updates and then to International updates. > It will be removed tomorrow, Jan 22, 2000 > > However, it may be available at > >http://www.thestar.com/thestar/editorial/updates/intlnews/200001220_ECUADOR- >PROT.html > > > For updates on the rebellion in Equador in English, > German and French, see > > http://www.coli.uni-sb.de/~pietsch/stop-war/ > most comprehensive and up-to-date > > also http://members.aol.com/pgacaravan > > http://www.ainfos.ca/ > > for Spanish, see http://www.hoy.com.ec/ > > http://conjuntos.es.fortunecity.com/social/6 > > or the NGO Pulsar: www.amarc.org/pulsar > > or through the mainstream Ecuadoran daily newspaper: > > http://www.hoy.com.ec/ > > > > ............................................. > Bob Olsen, Toronto [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ............................................. > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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