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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Ecuador president rescued from rebels

Police trapped Correa in hospital

Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa runs away from tear gas during a protest at a police base in Quito on Thursday.  (Associated Press)
Tatiana Coba Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador – Ecuadorean soldiers firing automatic weapons and concussion grenades rescued President Rafael Correa late Thursday from a hospital where he was trapped most of the day by police rebelling over a cut in benefits.

At least one security force member was wounded in the 35-minute operation, and the government said at least one person was killed and six injured in clashes earlier in the day outside the hospital between Correa’s supporters and insurgent cops.

Correa, 47, was trapped in the hospital for more than 12 hours after being treated for a tear-gassing that nearly aphyxiated him during a confrontation with hundreds of angry police officers who also shoved him and pelted him with water.

The violence began when hundreds of police angry over the new civil service law plunged this oil-exporting South American country into chaos, shutting down airports and blocking highways in a nationwide strike.

After police took to the streets, the government declared a state of siege, putting the military in charge of public order.

Peru and Colombia closed their countries’ borders with Ecuador in solidarity with Correa. Along with the rest of the region’s leaders and the United States, they expressed firm support for Correa.

The striking police were angered by a law passed by Congress on Wednesday that would end the practice of giving members of Ecuador’s military and police medals and bonuses with each promotion.

“They are a bunch of ungrateful bandits,” Correa said of the protesters.

He said the new law “is removing bonus payments and decorations from the entire public sector … to prevent abuses of state money.”