January 22, 2000
Web posted at: 12:29 a.m. EST (0529 GMT)

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From staff and wire reports

QUITO, Ecuador -- A three-man ruling council announced it was in control of Ecuador's government early Saturday, and President Jamil Mahuad was reported detained at a military airfield after fleeing his official residence after a day of street protests Friday.

The Organization of American States urged support for Mahuad's government as the nation's military leaders and Indian protesters squared off against the president. In an emergency meeting late Friday, the OAS unanimously passed a resolution officially condemning Ecuador's military leaders and protesters.

A council composed of the country's military chief, Gen. Carlos Mendoza; Indian leader Antonio Vargas; and former Supreme Court president Carlos Solorzano will run the country, Mendoza announced shortly before midnight Friday.

At the Washington meeting, Ecuador's ambassador, Patricio Vivanco, said Mahuad had abandoned the presidential palace in Quito and taken refuge at a military base in the capital.

Indian protesters broke through a barricade and took control of the empty Congress building and the presidential palace as Mahuad refused a call by Mendoza to resign his office.

"I am not going to abandon you," Mahuad vowed Friday. But as the protesters occupied government offices, he fled his residence and was being held outside Quito early Saturday, the new ruling council said.

The Indian protesters' anger has been fueled by Mahuad's sweeping plan aimed at fixing the nation's economic crises -- which include a shrinking economy and inflation topping 60 percent in 1999, the highest in Latin America.

Indian groups also voiced strong opposition to Mahuad's plan to replace the nation's main currency, the sucre, with the U.S. dollar.

Protesters have said the government is corrupt and has not served the needs of the people.

"The problem we have here, is you have the government on one hand, and several ministers have come out today supporting President Mahuad," said Guy Hedgecoe of Bridge News wire service. "And also we have the military high command who have asked Mahuad to resign."

"Then on the other hand, we also have this breakaway faction of young officers, all slightly separate from each other," said Hedgecoe, who is covering the events.

"And it'll be very interesting to see how things turn out and if the indigenous groups and the young officers arrive at the presidency, whether the soldiers up here actually let them pass or try and stop them," Hedgecoe said.

Military leaders reverse stance

Top military officers apparently had reversed an earlier decision to back Mahuad. After saying they backed democracy and the constitutional process, the high command later withdrew their support for the leader and asked him to step down.

"I have been chosen to tell the president that the command of the armed forces has withdrawn its support for the president and is asking he resign," said Gen. Carlos Moncayo, chief of logistics for the government palace's military unit.

With Indian protesters occupying Congress, and the president out of the presidential palace, it's unclear who controls Ecuador's government, and precisely which groups are challenging it.

Meanwhile, downtown Quito was in chaos, with Indians armed with rocks and clubs paralyzing traffic and menacing pedestrians. The rest of the country and much of the city seemed unfazed.

However, in Guayaquil, 264 kilometers (165 miles) southwest of the capital, a group of leftist-led unions, student organizations and neighborhood associations seized the provincial government building.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.