QUITO, (Reuters) – Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa emerged triumphant after a military raid to rescue him from protesting police, but still faces a political fight to push through austerity measures testing his popularity.
Troops stormed a hospital in Quito late yesterday and freed the 47-year-old leftist leader from dissident police who attacked him during a demonstration over bonus cuts, forcing him to seek refuge in the building for hours.
He accused his rivals of trying to topple him in a coup.
But Correa was buoyed by his return at the end of a day of turmoil in the South American OPEC member that brought messages of support from Washington to Havana.
“I give so much thanks to those heroes who accompanied me through this hard journey,” Correa told cheering supporters from the balcony of his presidential palace.
“Despite the danger, being surrounded, ministers and politicians came, to die if necessary. With that bravery, with that loyalty, nothing can defeat us.”
The local Red Cross said two police officers died as troops stormed the building. At least 88 people were injured yesterday as Correa supporters skirmished with police outside the hospital. There was some unrest in other cities, too.
Ecuador has a history of coups and instability.
Oil prices rose to a seven-week high of near $80 a barrel on Thursday, partly due to the unrest in the crude producer.
Correa, a U.S.-trained economist and ally of Venezuela’s socialist firebrand, Hugo Chavez, took office in 2007 and alienated international investors a year later when his government defaulted on $3.2 billion in global bonds.
But he won strong public approval for policies such as exerting greater state control over natural resources, including thrashing out new contracts with foreign oil firms.
His efforts to cut back spending made him enemies, however, including some of the rank and file in the security forces.
Correa was attacked by police demonstrating against cuts to their bonuses and frozen promotions when he tried to talk to them yesterday. They jostled him and threw a tear-gas cannister that exploded close to his face. Then, outside the hospital, the police fired tear gas at his supporters before troops moved in.
Analysts predicted Correa would ride out the crisis thanks to his public support, the lack of unified opposition to his administration, and the fact that the police high command did not back the protests by their subordinates.
The Eurasia Group think-tank said recent events suggested his government would likely be left with less political room to make necessary economic adjustments.
“How he responds to this crisis may very well shape his ability to complete his term,” it said.
Correa still faces a potentially damaging showdown with Congress, where half the 124 members are officially allied with him, but some in his left-wing Country Alliance party have been blocking budget proposals aimed at cutting state costs.
Ecuador’s 2-year-old constitution lets the president declare an impasse, dissolve Congress and rule by decree until a new presidential and parliamentary election.
Such a move — which Correa has said he is considering — would still need to be approved by the Constitutional Court.
South American leaders who met in Buenos Aires for an emergency meeting of the Unasur group welcomed Correa’s return to the presidential palace and said they would send their foreign ministers to Quito to show support for him.
“We can celebrate the fact that our comrade, the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has been freed and is well … the situation in Ecuador is under control,” Argentine President Cristina Fernandez said.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the region’s condemnation of yesterday’s turmoil showed “South America is united.”
“We’re united in the region to defend democracy. That’s a very important signal,” he said.