Ex-President of Ecuador renounces asylum in Colombia

Posted by Diego Mantilla - October 13, 2005 at 5:23 pm
Lucio Gutiérrez, Ecuador’s ousted president, renounced Thursday to the asylum that the government of Colombia granted him last week.

According to various news reports, Gutiérrez, who has followed a sojourn across several countries since he was forced out of power in April, has decided to abandon Colombia and head to Ecuador.
El Tiempo, a Bogotá newspaper, reported on its website that sources close to Gutiérrez said that the ex-president will soon announce a possible return to Ecuador.

http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/poli/2005-10-13/ARTIC ULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-2567746.html

According to El Comercio, a Quito newspaper, the announcement will be made public during the presentation of Gutiérrez’s book, “Faces of a Conspiracy: The Coup,” which was scheduled to take place Thursday in Bogotá.

http://www.elcomercio.com/noticia.asp?seccion=3&am p;id=7551

Vistazo, an Ecuadorian magazine, reported that in his book Gutiérrez will claim that Fidel Castro orchestrated the April street protests that led to Gutiérrez’s ousting.

El Universo, a Guayaquil newspaper, reported that Gutiérrez was planning to return to Ecuador Saturday.

Immediately after his fall, Gutiérrez sought refuge in the residence of the Brazilian ambassador in Quito, from where he was evacuated by members of Ecuador’s special forces and put in a plane headed to Brazil.

In early June, Gutiérrez renounced the political asylum that Brazil had granted him and flew to New York City, where he participated in a meeting with Wall Street investors sponsored by Barclays Capital, an investment bank that had done business with the Ecuadorian government during Gutiérrez’s tenure. He also stayed in Miami, where Gutiérrez’s cousin and political operative, Renán Borbúa, had a home.

Later Gutiérrez moved to northern Peru, where he resided close to the Ecuadorian border for sometime before heading for Colombia.

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Lucio to "Retake Power" in Ecuador

Submitted on October 14th, 2005 by Dan Feder
Lucio Gutiérrez is feeling quite confident these days. Not only is he returning to Ecuador, he announced at the release party for his book in Bogotá yesterday, but he is returning to “retake power.” How he plans to do this after having been stripped of his position by a unanimous vote in congress is unclear.

Colombia’s El Pais reports sums up the latest wire reports:

In his book, the former head of state accuses his successor of putting relations with Colombia at risk by committing “grave and monumental errors” such as announcing that he would remain neutral toward the Colombian conflict.

He explained that he had turned down Colombian protection “in order to return immediately to Ecuador and retake power.”

Could this boldness on Lucio’s part have something to do with the many meetings he surly had with U.S. officials during his stay up north? What was said to him up there that gave him the confidence to return to Ecuador? As the Guayaquil newspaper El Universo reports,

The former president is considered a fugitive by the authorities of his country. He has, along with his brother Gilmar and former collaborators Francisco Hurtado Borbúa, Fausto Cobo and Milton Ordóñez, an order of protective custody, signed last July 25 by the president of the Quito Superior Court, Alberto Moscoso, for attacking the internal security of the state.

…

Government Minister Galo Chiriboga said that if Gutiérrez returns to the country, he will be detained by the police.

Lucio Gutiérrez in Jail

Submitted on October 15th, 2005 by Dan Feder
Lucio Gutiérrez has been in custody for a little over 24 hours now. The Miami Herald reports that Ecuadorian authorities may have trouble holding him because of legal irregularities stemming from the continuing lack of a Supreme Court. (Ecuador’s Supreme Court was dissolved durring the political crisis that led to Gutiérrez’ overthrow.)

Developing…

Situation affecting counterdrug-deployment project

Submitted on October 15th, 2005 by Stephen Peacock
Interestingly, as this situation is unfolding, the U.S. government just notified all contractors pursuing the "Forward Operating Location" project that it has suspended its industry get-together in Manta, Ecuador. On Oct. 14, U.S. Air Force Contracting Officer Larry Westphal issued the following URGENT memo:

14 Oct 05

FOL-BOS SOLICITATION FA4890-06-R-0001

The bidders trip to Manta, Ecuador is CANCELED due to possible civil unrest in that country. [S.P: emphasis added]

Only the Manta, Ecuador trip is CANCELED.  

If you have any questions, please contact the Contracting Officer, Larry Westphal, or the Contract Manager, Carla Ashby, at acccons.lgccfol@langley.af.mil.

The original memo can be accessed via this link by scrolling down to the segment titled URGENT-MANTA ECUADOR BIDDERS TRIP IS CANCELED

For more background on the FOL initiative, check out Contractors Line Up For Piece of Counterdrug Deployment Project , Documents Governing Counterdrug Deployment Sites Now Available and U.S. Air Force Preparing to Build More Counterdrug Deployment Sites

 

Manta FOL Project Quickly Back on Track

Submitted on October 20th, 2005 by Stephen Peacock
Three days after cancelling an industry conference on counterdrug-deployment site-construction opportunities in Ecuador, the U.S. Air Force has rescheduled its two-phase contractor meet-up for next month. Whereas the U.S. government on Oct. 14 cancelled the gathering “due to possible civil unrest” in Ecuador, by Oct.17 officials were back on track with their original plans, albeit slightly behind schedule.

The Ecuadorian Air Force base at Manta – which houses a soon-to-be modernized U.S. Forward Operating Location, or FOL – will receive Lockheed Martin, Kellogg, Brown & Root, and other vendors on Nov. 16. DynCorp International, Raytheon, and representatives of several additional companies will meet Nov. 17. Participants will meet officials at the Oro Verde Hotel in Manta the designated morning of their FOL site visits.

For more information, click this link and scroll down to the segment titled “NOTICE TO OFFERORS-RESCHED MANTA TRIP 01 (Posted on Oct 17, 2005).”

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