My Buddy Mike F. in Cuenca, Ecuador Writes…

“I commend you on your journalistic integrity in
not saying that Lucio was gone until he actually was,
that was more than one could ask of the local press.
As the gangs of youth stormed past the recently
sidelined cops and militaries, commentators abruptly
started calling him ex-presidente. Perhaps the best
scene of the day was in the congress (tucked away in a
different building, out of harm’s way) naming Palacios
as president and then literally running out the door.
Tough talk, fast feet. There was another congressman
who, in response to why the congress feels the need to
get rid of a president every 2 years, said that this
was like the Sept 11th of Ecuador, when the president
fell like the twin towers. He didn’t strike me as the
smartest member of this ensemble.

So, on to current events. Around 1:30, about the
same time the congress was voting on his removal, the
Armed Forces announced that they had withdrawn support
of Gutierrez. At this time, the troops that had been
forcefully holding back the protests stepped aside and
watched them pass, waving and shaking hands. As the
crowd approached, Lucio was flown out of the
presidential palace in a helicopter, but then they
wouldn’t let his plane take off from the airport. The
airport had been closed, but some said that there were
people on the runway preventing the plane from taking
off. Lucio then apparently hopped into a “Super Puma”
helicopter and was last seen heading west, supposedly
toward Tena. News reports had him asking for asylum
in Panama (I’ve also heard Chile and Venezuela), but
there was nothing confirmed.

Perhaps the strangest part about this all is what
other people have done on the sidelines. Someone is
Guayaquil (Renan Borbua, possibly related to the prez)
sent 150 busses full of gov supporters to Quito, but
the mayor blocked them by dumping sand and rocks on
the highways that lead into the city. The same
apparently happened here, with people coming up from
the south.

Arvella just walked in and said that Abdala had
just escaped out of Machala 15 min ago. Police in
Guayaquil had closed the airport and issued a warrant
for his arrest, but a pocketful of money will still
get you a lot here. This however, means that I should
take a look at current events. I’ll be in touch
later.”

Mike