A coup by Congress and the street

摘要

It was intended as a bold statement of authority, but it merely showed how desperate the position of Ecuador's president, Lucio Gutierrez, had become. On April 15th, Mr Gutierrez, flanked by armed forces' commanders, announced that he was dissolving the Supreme Court-for the second time in four months-and imposing a state of emergency in Quito, the capital. In defiance, several thousand protesters immediately took to the streets, calling for Mr Gutierrez to be sent packing too.