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04/17/2005:

"Ecuador's President Revokes Protest Curbs"

BOGOTÁ, Colombia, April 16 - Hours after declaring a state of emergency to quell anti-government protests, President Lucio Gutiérrez of Ecuador revoked the measure on Saturday. The embattled president had faced thousands of furious protesters who had taken to the streets of Quito, defying the decree, which was limited to the capital, and demanding that he resign.

The president, though, said he would stick with his decision to dissolve the Supreme Court. Late Friday in a televised announcement, President Gutiérrez, with stern-looking military officers standing behind him, told Ecuadoreans that he was instituting a state of emergency and removing the Supreme Court.

The announcement did little to thwart protesters, who took to the streets, banging pots and pans and honking car horns. Though the state of emergency permitted the government to curb civil liberties, like the right to public assembly, the military and police did not take action against the protesters, raising questions about the loyalty of commanders to Mr. Gutiérrez.
Full Article: nytimes.com