European and North American banana traders are watching developments in Ecuador with interest today after 'hundreds of mutinous police and soldiers' reportedly staged an apparent coup d’etat yesterday (Thursday 30 September) during a demonstration in the capital Quito over protests to wage cuts.
After allegedly being punched and sprayed with teargas, Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa was taken to a hospital where he was held hostage by police, before being freed amid gunfire by special force armed soldiers, according to local media reports.
Meanwhile, looters reportedly ransacked banks, supermarkets and shopping malls in the port city of Guayaquil – home to the country’s largest banana shipment facility, Latin American news agency MercoPress reported.
Fruitnet.com was preparing to contact leading players in the Ecuadorean banana industry at the time of publishing.
A state of emergency has been declared as a result of the apparent coup attempt, and borders with neighbouring Peru and Colombia have been temporarily closed.
The fracas began after the Ecuadorean government passed a law on Wednesday to delay automatic promotions and slow salary increases in the police force, as part of a drive to eliminate government waste.
“What loyalty, what support,” President Correa said from the presidential palace after being freed. “This will serve as an example for those who want to stop the revolution not through the ballot box but with weapons.
“I’m not going to negotiate absolutely anything,” he added, according to a broadcast on Ecuador’s Telesur network. “I told them I was leaving here as president or a corpse.”
A number of political leaders in Latin America, with the exception of the Colombian and Brazilian presidents, have backed President Correa’s claims that he was the target of an organised coup.
Leftist leader Mr Correa has reportedly said police had “stabbed me in the back” and branded their behaviour an act of treason.
Two policemen apparently died in the clashes, and 51 people were injured, according to the Red Cross.
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