Ecuadorean Leader Flees To Brazil

Ousted President Lucio Gutierrez left Ecuador aboard a Brazilian air force plane Sunday, flying to asylum in Brazil four days after he was toppled following a week of massive street protests, officials said.

Gutierrez left with his family on a Boeing 737 jet after being whisked out of the Brazilian ambassador's residence before dawn, a Brazilian military spokesman told The Associated Press.

"They were rescued, and they are returning," Lt. Col. Valdomiro Fagundes said. "The mission was a success."

The television channel Ecuavisa cited witnesses who said the plane left from Latacunga Air Base, 42 miles south of Quito.

Though there had been fears of violence, none was reported as Gutierrez left the Brazilian ambassador's residence where he had been besieged by angry protesters much of the time since Congress voted to remove him from office Wednesday. The deposed leader left through a back entrance before dawn in a police four-wheel-drive, police who were guarding the gate said.

A handful of protesters and journalists were waiting at another entrance, where at the same time a silver sport-utility vehicle — an apparent decoy — pulled out a few yards and then pulled back inside.

As protesters heard the vehicles pulling away on the other side of the compound, they shouted, "We won't let you leave!" But the vehicles sped off.

The plane carrying Gutierrez, his wife and his two daughters made a refueling stop in the Brazilian city of Rio Branco, some 1,400 miles northwest of Brasilia, the capital.

Ecuador's new government had said Friday that it would let Gutierrez go to Brazil, where he had been granted political asylum. But the decision angered many Ecuadoreans, who said Gutierrez should be tried for alleged abuse of power, corruption and repression of peaceful protests.

The political crisis was the latest in a long history of political instability in the South American country of 12.5 million people. Since 1997, three presidents have been driven from office in Ecuador before completing their terms.

More than 1,000 Gutierrez loyalists took to the streets in his hometown of Tena on Saturday, protesting the new government and calling his ouster illegal, police in the remote Amazonian town said.

The peaceful rally was led by the ousted leader's brother, Gilmar Gutierrez, along with the town mayor and others in Gutierrez's Patriotic Society party, police said.

Brazil reportedly threatened to withdraw its ambassador, Sergio Florencio Sobrinho, after his car was mobbed Friday night by nearly 200 protesters who prevented him from leaving the compound.

The Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported Saturday that high-ranking Brazilian Foreign Ministry official Samuel Pinheiro had a "tough" conversation with his Ecuadorean counterpart. The paper said he protested that the ambassador was "trapped" inside the residence and denied "the conditions to work," a situation that could lead Brazil to withdraw him.

The growing tension between Ecuador and Brazil came as the Organization of American States decided to send a high-level diplomatic delegation to investigate whether Gutierrez's removal had been constitutional.

Gutierrez, a 48-year-old cashiered army colonel elected in 2002, has said the congressional vote that removed him from office violated the constitution.

In a resolution Friday, the OAS avoided explicit recognition of the government of President Alfredo Palacio, who was sworn in by Congress Wednesday after it removed Gutierrez. It was not known when the OAS delegation would arrive. So far no country has recognized the new government as legitimate.

Congress justified dismissing Gutierrez under a constitutional clause allowing lawmakers to remove a president for "abandonment of the post," even though he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders. Backers of the measure argued since Gutierrez had not faithfully carried out his responsibilities, Congress should declare the presidency vacant.