Lucio Gutierrez

Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbúa (Quito, March 23, 1957) is an Ecuadorian politician, soldier, graduate in Physical Education and civil engineer. He was president of Ecuador from January 15, 2003 to April 20, 2005. Currently, he is the leader of the political group Sociedad Patriotica.

Biography

Lucio Gutiérrez was born in the city of Quito on March 23, 1957, the son of Jorge Lucio Gutiérrez Rueda and María Fanny Borbúa Bohórquez, a nurse who died in 1986. A few days after his birth he was taken by his parents to Colombia and then to Tena, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where he studied elementary school at the Santo Domingo Savio School, run by the Josefinos parents, and secondary school at the San José College. At the age of 15 he entered the Eloy Alfaro Military College in Quito. He studied at the Army Polytechnic School in Quito, where he obtained a degree in civil engineering, and also a degree in physical education, administration and military science.

In 1989 He married Ximena Bohórquez, whom he knew since childhood because they were distantly related and with whom he has had two daughters, Karina and Viviana Gutiérrez Bohórquez.

Military career

Your studio in the Military College, in accordance with the provisions of the military regulations, he was sent to different destinations, until in 1996 he was appointed aide-de-camp to President Abdalá Bucaram, deciding to ignore Bucaram's orders to defend the Carondelet Palace in the days prior to his dismissal. A few days later he was also appointed aide-de-camp to the interim constitutional president Fabián Alarcón. He reached the rank of Colonel of Staff in the Ecuadorian Army. At the beginning of 1999, he was sent as Chief of the General Dàvalos cavalry group to Cuenca, a position that he took advantage of to present letters to President Jamil Mahuad and his defense minister requesting an economic change and an improvement in the conditions of Ecuadorian families, indicating that the Armed Forces must be on the side of the people, obtaining the support of military officers in the middle command.

In March 1999, the country entered into an economic crisis forcing President Jamil Mahuad to order the freezing of bank deposits and the increase in the price of gasoline by almost 150%. Given this, Colonel Gutiérrez, in command of a group of minor officers and some troop members, led an indigenous uprising that took Quito on January 21, 2000, causing the fall of Mahuad.

January 21 Rebellion

On January 21, 2000, Lucio Gutiérrez participated in an indigenous and low-ranking military rebellion that overthrew the constitutional president Jamil Mahuad, and together with Antonio Vargas, the then president of Conaie, and Carlos Solórzano Constantine, former president of the Supreme Court of Justice, formed a triumvirate that was not accepted internationally or had local support. At the time that triumvirate took office, General Carlos Mendoza, Commander General of the Army, took the place of Gutiérrez, who at the time had the rank of colonel. The constitutional order was restored by the Armed Forces and the vice president, Gustavo Noboa Bejarano, was sworn in as president of the Republic of Ecuador.

Lucio Gutiérrez was then arrested as a coup leader and confined in the Atahualpa Military Fort, where he remained for 120 days until Congress granted him amnesty. Once free, he began to work on the formation of a political movement that he baptized precisely with the name of the January 21 Patriotic Society Party, made up largely of his former military comrades who participated in the overthrow of Mahuad. Two years later, he presented his presidential candidacy for the 2002 presidential elections that would lead him to triumph in the two electoral rounds held on October 20 and November 24, 2002, defeating candidates who -such as Dr. Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, Dr. Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea and Ab. León Roldós Aguilera - had previously held the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the Republic, in addition to his opponent in the second round, Álvaro Noboa.

Presidency of Ecuador (2003-2005)

Gustavo Noboa called presidential elections for the year 2002, for which several political figures had presented themselves as candidates. Among the applicants was Álvaro Noboa y Gutiérrez, who had been part of the "National Salvation Board" but now as a presidential candidate for the January 21 Patriotic Society Party, in alliance with the Pachakutik movement and with the support of the MPD, being elected President of the Republic in the second round of elections, which took place on November 24, 2002.

Public policies

As soon as Lucio Gutiérrez was elected, he announced a pluralist government with national agreement, including representatives of social movements. He said he would send to Congress bills to depoliticize the courts, create the fourth function of the state for control and accountability, as well as modernize the bureaucratic apparatus. Gutiérrez structured a diverse but contradictory cabinet: the economic front and the political front were in the hands of the traditional sectors of the right. On the other hand, he handed over 4 ministries to Pachakutik, among which those of Foreign Relations and Agriculture stood out, whose ministers were personalities of the indigenous intelligentsia. This highly diverse cabinet did not have a guiding hand to give it coherence, each minister worked almost in isolation, Cabinet meetings were few, unproductive, however, rectifications were never raised. Soon the political discrepancies with those who had helped him to access power also became latent and the indigenous movements began to pressure the president until the agreement was broken. After this break in frequency, Gutiérrez made changes in his cabinet, appointing well-known political figures from traditional political parties as ministers.

But after a few months in office, his left-wing allies observed an unexpected change: the president visits the United States and publicly declares that he is his best friend. In addition, it alters the functions and powers of the State to avoid parliamentary opposition and makes a pact with the Ecuadorian right represented by the Social Christian Party (PSC), given the lack of support in the National Congress. After signing one of the Letters of Intent with the International Monetary Fund, at the hands of its Minister of Economy, Mauricio Pozo Crespo, said letter became the government program. The president intended to propose the Trole III Law that would include reforms to the oil, electricity and social security sectors, to facilitate the participation of private capital and expand the possibilities of placing bonds, in the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS).

He ordered an increase in the price of fuel, causing the immediate rise in the cost of the family basket and the rejection of the citizenship to the imposed economic policy. Faced with this situation, the president built a fence of military associates around him, naming them Ministers of State, undersecretaries and presidents of state companies such as Petroecuador, Pacifictel, Andinatel, Customs, etc. In the political field, six retired soldiers were also appointed to the position of Governor, in different provinces, in the same way, their close, distant and related relatives immediately became public employees, the emblematic case being that of the president's brother-in-law, Napoleón Villa, who was appointed director of the Solidarity Fund, a position from which he was separated by the Constitutional Court for nepotism. The country's oil situation suffered a serious setback in mid-2004 when the Ecuadorian State decided to nullify or rescind the contract with the American multinational oil company OXY. Three years later "the Ecuadorian government decided to give up the lawsuit and get ready to pay the item sentenced in July 2004 plus interest... Initial projections show more than $153 million...".

Corruption scandals

At the beginning of October 2003, Gutiérrez had to endure a scandal that shook the structures of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces: The discovery that -for several years- a large quantity of weapons had disappeared from the military barracks, and that this could have been “negotiated” with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Faced with public pressure, several suspects were detained to be submitted to the "Military Justice", but the respective authorities refused to give their names. A few days later, the president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, in statements made on television to the press, shocked international opinion, declaring that "in a corrupt manner, some members of the Ecuadorian Army, against their government, against their country, against democracy, against the The great Ecuadorian people, against their constitution, have sold that to the Colombian terrorists." The situation was settled diplomatically months later, the two countries having previously broken off diplomatic relations.

The complaints of “proven irregularities” did not stop: the Minister of Human Development, Patricio Ortiz, had to resign from his position involved in accusations that involved him in an obscure matter related to an overprice or negotiated, perpetrated in the acquisition of certain inputs intended to help indigenous people affected by the eruptions of the Tungurahua volcano. At the beginning of 2004, the social and political situation had not changed, and the indigenous people clamored and proposed by all means to promote a new uprising to "repeat January 21, 2000"; but fortunately for the government, although the economic situation of Ecuadorians had not improved, it had not deteriorated either, and this kept the people relatively calm. Gutiérrez was investigated for accusations that he had used public resources in support of the ruling party and of its candidates during the Ecuadorian sectional elections of 2004. In addition, many of its ministers were investigated for corruption, particularly in the Social Welfare and Housing portfolios, having to frequently modify their cabinet.

In this environment of uncertainty and threatened by several political parties that demanded his resignation, he visited the military and police barracks to offer their members a considerable economic increase, without considering that the social debt was unpayable and that the budget for the health and education could not cover even their most basic needs. Also seeking the support of his sympathizers, companies such as Pacifictel suddenly dismissed more than a hundred workers, who would later be replaced by members of the government's political party. Cordero attempted to initiate an Impeachment Trial to remove him from office.

Dismissal of Magistrates of the National Court and the Pichi Court

Gutiérrez resorted to a new strategy in 2004 to maintain political stability, to form a new parliamentary coalition obtaining the support of the populist parties: to ensure the support of the PRIAN, led by Álvaro Noboa, he tried a kind of blackmail against the industrialist Guayaquil, which was demonstrated on Tuesday, January 20, 2004, when Carlos Pólit, Secretary to the President, announced that "...an investigation would be launched against Noboa for alleged complaints against him related to the price of flour, one of Álvaro Noboa's businesses”. To back up that statement, the next day, in Guayaquil, the president warned that he would "jail the flour monopolist." The President appointed Jaime Damerval Martínez as the new Minister of Government. A few days later, a clever political maneuver managed to get several deputies committed to the impeachment to change their decision. The new political proposals implemented by Damerval did not take long to produce a strong commotion within the opposition parties, and before completing his first month in the Ministry he had already managed to consolidate a government majority. This majority was achieved basically thanks to the support of PRIAN and PRE.

During the first week of December, the president convened an extraordinary session of Congress in order to renew the Supreme Court of Justice, for which Congress, through the votes of the government parliamentary majority -contravening explicit provisions constitutional - dismissed the Justices of the Supreme Court, replacing them with new judges identified with the political parties members of that parliamentary majority, including two recommended directly from Panama by the exiled former president Abdalá Bucaram. At the end of 2004 the president had managed to consolidate itself in power, supported by two questionable leaders who had demanded a very high price for their support, a situation that was confirmed by deputy Mario Touma, who in statements made on television -on January 5, 2005- said that his party, the PRE, would support President Gutiérrez as long as he complies with his offer of permission The return of former President Bucaram, voluntarily expatriated in Panama -since his overthrow in 1997- to evade the action of Ecuadorian justice. That same day, Deputy Omar Quintana Baquerizo, also from the PRE, was elected President of the National Congress.

The substitution process placed Guillermo Castro Dager as president of the Court, a lawyer of proven friendship with former president Bucaram, crystallizing the so-called "Guayaberas Pact" reached during a visit by Gutiérrez to the residence hotel of the first of these in Panama, who would act in the two criminal trials filed against Bucaram, accused in both cases of abuse of public funds during his government. The new Court was called the "Pichi-Court", referring to the nickname of the president of the Court Castro Dager. As a consequence, the new court annulled the trials against former presidents Abdalá Bucaram, Gustavo Noboa and former vice president Alberto Dahik, who even returned from exile, which provoked strong protests and mobilizations by the population. Faced with this situation of social, political and legal uncertainty, the municipalities of the main cities, together with the representatives of the Chambers of Production, announced that they would call public demonstrations to reject the dictatorial claims of President Gutiérrez.

The dismissal of the Supreme Court of Justice was taken to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights by the Human Rights Clinic of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador and later by professors Ramiro Ávila Santamaría (who years later would be a judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador and David Cordero Heredia. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights found Ecuador guilty of violating the rights of former magistrates and ordered it to compensate the victims through a high indemnity that would be highly criticized by the former. Judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador and of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights Hernan Salgado Pesantes.

Accusations of authoritarianism and protests

In 2005, Gutiérrez insulted journalists, threatened his opponents and allowed acts of vandalism, as the Crnel denounced to the press. Patricio Acosta, former Minister of Social Welfare, former Secretary of the Administration, who also pointed out that Gutiérrez, when he was a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, had met and held talks with a representative of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The government tried to implement a communication law, through which it could exercise control over the radio and telecommunication media. After the dismissal of the judges and the establishment of the Pichi Court, the opposition denounced Gutiérrez as a dictator, before which the president referred to himself as a "dictocrat", causing controversy and rejection by the opposition, the media and citizens.

On January 26, 2005, a massive march organized by the mayor of Guayaquil, Ab. Jaime Nebot expressed his rejection of the "dictocrat." At the beginning of February the mayor of Quito, General Paco Moncayo, also called for a political and popular civic march with the purpose of demanding rectifications from the ruler. The government began an intense publicity campaign inciting a confrontation between Ecuadorians, while organizing, for the same day, February 16, the respective counter-march. Gutiérrez ordered that the city of Quito be "besieged" by the armed forces. A few days later Cuenca would join Guayaquil and Quito.

Rise of the Outlaws

The unfulfilled offers, the contradictions and the return of Abdalá Bucaram -which confirmed the commitment acquired by the ruler with the expatriate politician- filled the patience of the citizens, especially from Quito who, from then on and turned into "outlaws ” which was what the president had called them-, they began to carry out a series of spontaneous demonstrations, without the leadership of any political leader. In response, President Gutiérrez frequently called for counter-marches by his supporters that ended in the Plaza de la Independencia.

With the support of the Armed Forces, on the night of April 15 -through Executive Decree No. 2752- Gutiérrez declared a State of National Emergency, ordered the dismissal of all members of the Supreme Court of Justice, established the city of Quito as a Security Zone, suspended several of the Civil Rights of Ecuadorians, including freedom of opinion and expression of thought in all its forms, the inviolability of the home, the right to move freely through Ecuadorian territory and freedom of assembly and association for peaceful purposes. This decision caused concern in the media and the opposition, considering that the president had declared himself a dictator through the decree. The Pichi Court with this decision was dismissed, annulling all his decisions, so former President Bucaram returned to his exile in Panama and the government lost its parliamentary majority. In various media outlets there was talk of the need to overthrow Gutiérrez to avoid a dictatorship, so two days later this resolution was annulled, increasing the protests and calls for the resignation of the president.

Removal

On April 20, after an increase in the intensity of the citizen protests in Quito, the mayor Paco Moncayo ordered the entrances to the capital to be closed, preventing the passage of buses with supporters of President Gutiérrez. On the morning of that day, the protests took over the building of the Ministry of Social Welfare, which was destroyed and set on fire. The protesters declared that there were armed criminals protecting the ministry, who were detained by the protesters and later by the Police. The protests had turned violent, with looting in the capital, having to act the anti-riot squad of the Police, in addition the Armed Forces barricaded the Carondelet Palace. By noon, the protesters had crossed the barricade of the Armed Forces, since they had withdrawn their support for President Gutiérrez together with the Police Command.

Lucio Gutiérrez arriving at the Brazilian Air Force Base, four days after his dismissal.

Given this, Gutiérrez left Carondelet through the roofs aboard an Ecuadorian Army helicopter. A soldier lowered the flag of the Carondelet Palace announcing that there was no longer a government. Faced with this chaotic situation, the National Congress, meeting at the International Center for Higher Communication Studies for Latin America (CIESPAL), decided to dismiss Lucio Gutiérrez, based on a clause in the Constitution that allowed Congress to remove the president of the country for "abandonment of office", justifying his decision in that Gutiérrez, having ordered the dismissal of the magistrates of the Judicial Branch, had intervened in another state power, for which reason he had violated the Constitution and broken the constitutional order, decision that was ratified by the State Attorney General's Office. In his place, Vice President Alfredo Palacio assumes the constitutional presidency by succession, being sworn in at CIESPAL by the then Vice President of the National Congress Cynthia Viteri in an impromptu session while protests continued in the exterior of the building.

Ministers of State

Post-Presidential Life

When Gutiérrez was dismissed, he went directly to the Mariscal Sucre airport, where a small plane -also from the Army- was waiting for him with its engines running to facilitate his escape; but the people invaded the airstrip and prevented the plane from taking off, so he had to board the helicopter again to escape once more from popular anger. Moments later and thanks to the asylum granted by the Brazilian government, he was able to take refuge in said Embassy where he waited for the respective safe-conduct to leave the country. Finally, and having received the long-awaited safe-conduct, at 4 in the morning on Sunday the 24th -hiding his face by a ski mask and disguised as a policeman- Gutiérrez left the Brazilian Embassy aboard a police vehicle that took him to the airport. There he boarded an army helicopter that took him to the city of Latacunga, where he boarded a Brazilian Air Force plane in which he left the country.

In mid-May he renounced the asylum he had obtained from Brazil and moved to the US; It was then that on June 7 he "promised to return to the country to resume command." These statements led to a complaint by the Government before the State Attorney General's Office, which concluded 15 days later when the Superior Court of Justice of Quito issued the corresponding arrest warrant against him.

Later, he moved to Colombia where he requested a new political asylum, but on October 13 -nine days after it was granted- when he presented his book entitled “El Golpe” in Bogotá, he renounced the asylum generously granted and threatened that “ the next day” he would return to Ecuador to regain power. He landed in the city of Manta where he was detained by members of the National Police to be transferred to Quito and taken to the García Moreno prison where "he was held in a maximum security area where drug traffickers and former bankers are serving sentences." Subsequently, he was transferred to Prison 4 in Quito, where he was held until March 3, 2006, when he was “acquitted” by the president of the Superior Court of Quito. That same day -when he was released- he announced that he would present his presidential candidacy for the presidential elections that would be held before the end of that year, but he could not run as the Justice withdrew his political rights for 2 years, being replaced by his brother. Gilmar Gutiérrez, who obtained third place.

He proclaimed his candidacy for the October 2006 elections, carrying out his political campaign throughout the country, but he could not appear in the electoral contest because the National Congress suspended his political rights for two years, through a law with retroactive effect. Gutiérrez then ran in the 2009 presidential election, where he came in second with 28%. He proclaimed himself head of the opposition during the second term of Rafael Correa, being harshly criticized and accused of coup by the president for the events of September 30, 2010.

Gutiérrez was a presidential candidate in the 2013 elections, losing again, finishing in third place, continuing in politics today as an opponent of Correa, focused on the restructuring of his political party.

In 2016, he announced his candidacy as a national assemblyman for the 2017 legislative elections, but was not elected.

Gutiérrez was once again a presidential candidate in the 2021 elections, without being elected.

Decorations and merits

• Gran Collar de la Orden Nacional de San Lorenzodesignated as Grand Master of the Order of highest rank in Ecuador, presided by the President of the Republic of turn.