Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Quito (Agenzia Fides) - "Claims being made by various sectors of Ecuadorian society in recent months have led to the revolt of law enforcement officials. They have resorted to brute force and have injured the dignity of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic, while anarchists have sown serious concern throughout the country.” This is the report issued yesterday by the Ecuadorian Bishops' Conference, on account of recent acts of violence that followed protests held by members of the police force for withholding salaries and the abolition of the incentives. The report urged everyone to remain calm and to engage in constructive dialogue.
In fact, President Rafael Correa, who had been present at one of the protests of the police force, in an attempt to dialogue with the demonstrators, was slightly wounded. Admitted to a hospital by the police, he was seized by officers in a riot. According to local press, two men died and 37 people were injured in the army raid to rescue him. However, Red Cross spokesman Fernando Gandarillas says that there were at least 50 injured in clashes yesterday between police and supporters of Correa who tried to approach the hospital.
"To reach a solution to the crisis - continue the Bishops - we make an urgent appeal to all Ecuadorians, asking that they keep calm and maintain social peace, not confrontation, as a fundamental attitude. We must acknowledge that violence can cause damage, sometimes irreversible, to the respectability of democratic institutions, to human life, and to the property of citizens. We call on the sectors involved, especially our police and military, to return to their honorable role as custodians of the rule of law, the only possible system of democratic life. Their requests have valid legal channels.”
The text, signed by the secretariat of the Bishops' Conference on September 30, concludes: "We ask the government and the National Assembly that, far from enforcing its decisions unilaterally, it may be open to a genuine process of dialogue that leads to a concerted and constructive co-existence in order to confirm their legitimacy every day through their respect for others and avoiding the temptation to use powers outside the channels established by law. Only a regular dialogue, frank and constructive, may lead to a better Ecuador. It is also important, at this point, that freedom of public expression through the media is completely guaranteed." (CE) (Agenzia Fides 01/10/2010)
