Lucio Gutiérrez In Social Protests

Lucio Gutiérrez in social protests

Introduction

Lucio Gutiérrez after having finished his studies at the Military School, was appointed as Assistant to Abdalá Bucaram, and then proclaimed Fabián Alarcón assistant, who assumed the presidency of Ecuador, after the defeat of Bucaram. Thanks to this he became the elderly of the State in the Army. Position he lost after seeing one of the most relevant movements in the country’s history, so he was arrested for 6 months and dismissed his position in Ecuadorian troops.

These types of acts motivated Gutierrez to be part of Ecuadorian politics, for what on January 15, 2003 manages to access the great responsibility of governing a country, where he had the support of all Ecuadorian citizens, since At the time it was one of the most estimated characters in society, for the fact of having provided its unconditional support to the people in demonstrations made against previous governments as was the case of Mahuad on January 21, 2000.

Developing

Merino (2005: 20) argues that the Patriotic Society candidate obtained the support of Pachakutik and with that of an important segment of the indigenous and left electorate, in mid -2002, thanks to his “patriotic” participation in the fall of Mahuad and His radical discursive of "rejection of neoliberal policies, fighting corruption, social injustice, the free trade agreement and the Colombia Plan". To this we had to add the image of the "Ecuadorian Chávez" of a certain left and the same radical discourse of Gutiérrez had been responsible for manufacturing and that would collapse hardly won the second round.

So, the Gutierrez government managed to access power thanks to the fallacies he offered in his speech as a candidate, as well as the naivety of the people in the face of the actions he had done years ago. It is worth clarifying that there is not much time to position himself in the Government Palace, he began to place in the most important administrative entities of Ecuador to countless family and military, whose sole objective was to obtain loyalty, from the armed forces towards His mandate, in order to avoid repeating events lived in previous governments.

Therefore, the Ecuadorian population felt disappointed and betrayed, in the face of decisions taken by the president, since everything that had stipulated in his candidacy was not being fulfilled, but benefits were being given to certain public and private entities in particular. So his government was proclaimed a militarized administration, and Lucio considered a traitor, which caused the president to win the contempt of the media and the general citizenship in general.

To understand this more clearly, let’s base in the case of Abdalá Bucaram and his return to the country, after being dismissed and exiled on February 3, 1997 for being one of the most corrupt characters that Ecuadorian politics lived. After the meeting that was held by this pair of public figures they reached an agreement, in which, Abdala gave him loyalty and unconditional support as long as he can return permanently and without judicial charges to the country, after having passed 8 years of self-examination in Panama.

The idea that sustains from La Torre (2005) is that “for many editorialists, directors of opinion programs on radio and on television, as well as for citizens, especially Serrans, Bucaram’s return was the last drop that overflows his Moral and aesthetic outrage ” (P. 23), being one of the acts with the greatest controversy in Ecuadorians, since everyone knew the damage that Bucaram had caused to the homeland, and the injustices that Gutierrez was carrying out.

This is how a group of people went to protest on April 13 against the bad decisions and actions carried out by the Government, in which the exclusive participation of the popular class was lived against the multiple decisions made by the Presidency, This was gradually creating in the population rage and discontent against the official officer, since the actions that were managed violated rights, as well as the ethical and moral value of certain social groups.

It is important to mention that in order to make the demonstrations fulfill their objective they had to use different strategies of everyday life, so they concentrated and marched through the night schedule so as not to interfere with the work schedules and thus make their voice heard in a way peaceful not to harm people who have also been victims of the dictatorship that the country was going through. But not only concentrated on one place, but the most important meeting point was the Government Palace.

On the other hand, it is important to mention that one of the protests that he managed initiated in the capital of Ecuadorians, with the purpose of protection of their integrity and that of their family in one of the countries to which he had requested political asylum. After this event, the Congress decides to withdraw the position of President, on April 20, 2005, for having abandoned the position, for which Vice President Alfredo Palacio assumes the presidency.

Gutierrez was accused of being a traitorous and authoritarian character, as in turn to see a militarized government implemented throughout his presidential period, taking into account that since his adolescence he governs a military education system, where I adopt Certain capabilities that at the time of assuming power did not favor him at all, since, when making important decisions, he did not usually hear advice from any member of his team of collaborators, but, he carried out the actions he believed right.

This was what little by little was carrying the end of his government, due to poor administration and in turn, the corruption that he provided to the country. Likewise, the discomfort of the population and the media played a great role at this time, since, it was increasing politics.

Once the Armed Forces withdrew their support for the presidency, Gutierrez was forced to escape in a helicopter on April 20, 2005 to Brazil, a neighboring country that gave him political asylum; Although Gutiérrez always repeated the phrase: "Only dead they took me out of the palace" finally ended up fleeing, unfortunately he did not reach the time he was in command due to the poor administration of his government. Fortunately, despite having passed two years in power, the people knew how to realize that he was not a good representative and managed.

Political crisis

The government of Lucio Gutiérrez as all predecessor governments have crossed certain political crises that have influenced positively and negatively in the development of society. In this case, the crisis that Ecuador faced in the administration of said president was an ideological crisis, since his objective was to remain in power with the help of political allies, armed forces and movements with similar ideologies; Regardless of him that he was deceiving the people who put his confidence in him, although he did not think about the very serious consequences caused by his vile acts.

At the beginning of Ecuadorian citizenship, Lucio raised in their campaign and in their first days of administration, but in a very short term different actions were implemented that were gradually causing great rejection by the population. And just as years ago he obtained great popular support, after a few months he was losing it, and instead, he gained the repudiation of the Ecuadorian people.

The different conflicts faced by this presidential period were one of the causes that ended with it, since the attitude taken by the president demonstrated to the city that what he, wanted to establish an authoritarian system, in which the militia commanded. This means that a few days after assuming power, he located different armed forces officials in positions of great political importance, in order to guarantee an individual benefit between the government and the FFAA.

Taking into account that one of the matches that supported Gutierrez was the PSP (Patriotic Society Party) where most of its members were great leaders of the Ecuadorian Army.

Gutierrez followed the military logic of "softening"; That is, permanently display a set of "psychosocial operations" in order to "soften" any "external enemy". He used these tactics against journalists, opposition deputies, editorialists, indigenous leaders and at the end of his mandate against León Febres Cordero, the corrupt oligarchy, the peak and aniñado quiteños (whites on the outside, corrupt inside). In the final weeks of the government, his language was that of the countermarkers, in this same sense of softening of those who opposed him. (Burbano, 2005, P.26)

A Democratic government that sought the inclusion of public forces with the civil, although that was only what facilitated their entry into power. Since after positioning themselves in the Government Palace, I betray Ecuadorian citizens, pretending to submit to the laws and rules of the democratic system that is handled in our country. A government that does not mind betraying the people, who had deposited all his confidence in him, to take command of the Republic. Since in his campaign Lucio implanted a leftist speech, which flatly favored the people and fought against corruption.

A few months after accessing power, Gutiérrez leaves aside his ideals of justice and left, and begins to make alliances with different countries and right -wing parties as was the case of the United States and the PSC (Christian Social Party), arriving with These agreements that benefited the high social class, since once the agreement with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) was signed, changes in the economic stability of the popular class were initiated. What surprised his work team, since the entire government plan proposed in the campaign, would not be fulfilled in front, so certain groups withdrew his support.

After presenting great discomfort in society, the influence of the media had great emphasis on various events that arose in this mandate, in which certain acts that questioned Gutierrez’s word in front of themselves in front of themselves in the face of A beginning their intentions were left in favor of the people, or exclusively from the right in favor of the bourgeoisie.

Despite the different measures taken by the president, it was a government in which the country was going through economic stability (Torre, 2008: 206), unlike the crises that ended with the falls of Bucaram and Mahuad, which occurred in Contexts of economic packet, and of the generalized economic crisis of 1999-2000, Gutiérrez was ceased despite the relative economic stability that the country lived during its period and the absence of an economic package.

Taking into account that what caused their fall were the discontent of the people in the face of actions that focused on a betrayal, and not, on economic stability, so it should be emphasized that within this period much of the external debt the country had.

Being not enough with the anger that Gutierrez had generated in the town, where the Ecuadorian press was actively involved, with influence in his listeners, again the ex-coronel was put again in controversies because he was accused having used money from drug trafficking for their electoral campaigns, but in reality it could never be clarified precisely what really happened, however, this very serious accusation was used by those of the democratic left for the dismissal they planned With President Gutiérrez.

Together, Lucio was presented with a new scandal, because several years ago a large number of weapons of the FAE (Ecuadorian Armed Forces) had disappeared, and therefore he was accused of having had negotiations with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces from Colombia), which were a group of guerrillas who kept Colombia in a situation of insecurity.

But although the weapons did not use it against the Ecuadorian army, the situation in Colombia was aggravated when unfortunately they killed an important landowner from that country, where it could be verified by means of a report made by the Office of Arms Traffic Office of The United States, which the weapon they used to perform that devastating operation was belonging to the Ecuadorian armed forces.

What led the population to idealize that Gutierrez was one of the military dictators that Ecuador had, which had national and international alliances, so that its dismissal does not occur in a very short term, although that was not fulfilled , since, the citizens gradually lifted their voice against the government.

La Luna Radio

This means of communication replaced the corrupt dam that at that time did not inform the people about what was happening in Ecuador. This radio gave the people the opportunity to express their opinions and publicize a solution to end the government of Lucio Gutiérrez. It was considered as the radio of the town since on many occasions they tried to close or damage their facilities, but many Protestants joined to protect.

The only means of communication that was in favor of the people. Luna radio calls extended to universities, cultural and artistic groups, neighborhoods, etc. to get up against the dictatorship through which the country crossed for 2 years. After listening to the call to the fight, many citizens were present with their opinions against the “traitor’ ’as Ecuadorian citizenship to Gutiérrez names it.

The main idea that Unda (2005) is that “Ecuador, April 2005 the rebellion of the outlaws. Lucio Gutiérrez becomes the third president cast as a result of the strong social mobilizations ”(P.129), which meant that the people decided to dismiss him for the bad administration and ideological changes that he gave to the people.

In April 2005, from 13 to 20, strong social protests were given where democracy returned to the streets and squares of Quito but also to the radio waves the "Moon". They raised their voice and protested against the ideology that Gutierrez was carrying in his mandate.

They were days when the town recovered their voice through Radio La Luna since it opened their transmissions to give their opinion through telephone calls many people expected so that their voice is heard and also to give a solution for the political crisis that was happening Ecuador, as well as to criticize and send threats of strong paralyzes against government.

Radio ‘’ La Luna ’’ with his listeners called to take the way to protests in the province of Pichincha. One of the events that I marked in the transmissions of this radio was when a lady calls Radio La Luna very angry and knew that the town began their protest after the workday. After a while I call another lady who gave the option to express her protest through a "cacerolazo".

In Quito, the voice of the outlaws "outside Lucio" was heard at that time the mayor in turn called people to leave the squares and streets of Quito. But citizens refused to obey, so Gutierrez violently repressed multiple protesters.

The town went out to protest in the afternoon and at night where bonfires were performed. The radio La Luna announced that the first event that occurred was the cacerolaz. Events that represented the fury of the Ecuadorian people in the face of government decisions.

On April 15, Radio La Luna announced that the Government decree the state of emergency in the city of Quito to get calm, but this was not achieved and the protests continued on the weekend. On Tuesday a new radio call La Luna that proposed a march from La Carolina Park in the north of Quito. This mobilization was massive.

The trade believes that this demonstration had been one of whom had a very large number of people. In the midst of this the radio announced that a Chilean journalist lost his life in the midst of these events. The protests occurred until the early hours of the morning.

conclusion

The arrival of protesters from the coast and the Amazon was announced to the city of Quito to defend democracy. During these events a person made a call to Radio La Luna in which he said: "We are happy because we are doing politics and it is not the policy of politicians". It was announced that the armed forces would take support from Gutierrez this is the so -called coup d’etat. After the fight that took place for several days Lucio Gutiérrez falls on April 20, 2005. Thanks to the union that the media had, especially this radio, which unconditionally support the manifesting class, the collective work was reflected, for the fight against corruption.

In April events, a local radio, beyond its informative function, rediscovered the "social value" that the media can develop in the exercise of citizenship. Although most of the media refuse to recognize their role as political actors, considering that this would attempt against the principles of neutrality and objectivity promulgated by journalism. Radio La Luna openly became a militant against the mistakes and excesses of the Gutierrista government. (Pazmiño, 2005, P. 37)

It should be stressed that, after the great movement of citizens, and the positive response obtained This radio, because, at that time the moon became one of its main opponents.