The Congress of Ecuador denied this Wednesday the request for the impeachment of the president, Guillermo Lasso, which had been presented by the opposition parliamentary caucus of the Union for Hope (Unes), related to former president Rafael Correa. The motion, which has been discussed since Saturday in Parliament in the midst of a context of extreme violence in the streets, it did not obtain the necessary votes to obtain its approval.
There were 12 votes that were missing to remove the former right-wing banker from office, which he agreed to in May 2021. To achieve that goal, the support of two-thirds of Congress was needed, equivalent to 92 of the 137 assembly members.
However, the result of final vote was 80 votes in favor against 48 against and 9 abstentions, according to the results proclaimed by the secretary of Parliament, Álvaro Salazar, in a virtual session broadcast on social networks.
“We defended democracy and now we must restore peace”said Lasso after the vote, who had called on parliamentarians to maintain the country’s institutionality. On Twitter, he added: “Despite the coup attempts, today the country’s institutions prevailed. It is clear who works for the political mafias. Meanwhile, we continue to work for Ecuador.”
Indigenous people march in Quito against the cost of living and the administration of Guillermo Lasso. Photo EFE/ José Jácome
The motion was presented by Unes assemblyman Fernando Cedeño, under the cause of “serious political crisis and internal commotion” and in the context of the protests against the government for the high cost of livingled by the indigenous and peasant movement.
The bloody demonstrations, which have lasted for the last 16 days, provoked the death of six people and around 400 injured.
This Tuesday, the tense talks between the government and the indigenous groups had been frozen after an attack by protesters that left a soldier dead and 12 soldiers injured when they were guarding a fuel convoy in the Amazon.
Lasso said on a radio and television network that his government cannot sit down and talk “with those who seek to hijack the peace of Ecuadorians,” alluding to the attack, and accused the highest indigenous leader Leonidas Iza of only defending “his interest politician and not his bases”.
“As long as the necessary guarantees do not exist, the dialogue process cannot continue,” he stressed.
The demonstrations caused the death of six people and around 400 wounded. Photo Martin Bernetti / AFP
The organization demanded that the regime of President Guillermo Lasso comply with 10 points, among them the reduction of the price of fuel from 2.45 to 2.10 dollars per gallon, more budget for education and health and the fixing of prices. of agricultural products. The right-wing president gave in to a reduction of 10 cents on the dollar.
In any case, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (CONAIE) rejected the measure, calling it insensitive and insufficient.
Violence and death in the streets of Ecuador
Ecuador has been going through a national strike for two weeks called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, against the high cost of living and especially the price of fuel. The Government described this event as “a terrorist attack.”
The marches turned violent. with street closures and harsh confrontations between demonstrators -who came to Quito from different regions of the country- and the security forces.
The strike was also characterized by violent demonstrations and road closures, which caused food and fuel shortages. In the city of Cuenca, 310 kilometers south of the capital, hospital oxygen was about to run out, especially in the Vicente Corral Moscoso regional hospital, which treats patients from several provinces in the south of the country, according to authorities.
They said that the reserve of that product went from 1,000 kilograms on Monday to 500 kilograms in that hospital, which means that it is running out of oxygen for patients in serious condition, who are in adult and pediatric intensive care units, in neonatology, hospitalization and trauma center.
The supply of oxygen did not arrive due to the protests that literally keep that city under siege, where there is also a food shortage, authorities add.
With information from EFE and AP.
ES