Great News for the Galapagos

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04/21/2005

 

Great News for the Galapagos – Sea Shepherd Cheers the

Removal of President Lucio Gutierrez

 

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society received the news of

the overthrow of President Lucio Gutierrez with great

joy.

 

" The President of Ecuador was removed in a democratic

manner, " said Captain Paul Watson. " His removal is

good news for the Galapagos National Park and the

Galapagos Marine Reserve. "

 

Under the administration of President Gutierrez, the

situation in the Galapagos National Park has

deteriorated badly.

 

" It has been chaos in the Park under this President,

" said Captain Watson. " The Park has been occupied, and

rangers have been beaten and threatened by mobs of

fishermen. The latest concern was a move to legalize

longline fishing in the Marine Reserve, a move that

would have been the death sentence for the Reserve. "

 

The President was removed from office by a vote of

62-0 after a series of violent clashes between

Gutierrez supporters and opponents.

 

The new President is former Vice President Alfredo

Palacio. Sea Shepherd will be writing to President

Palacio to request that he restore order to the

Galapagos and appoint a pro-conservation director for

the National Park.

 

Admiral Victor Hugo Rosero, the head of the joint

chiefs of staff has announced that in response to the

vote, the military has withdrawn its support of

Gutierrez. The soldiers withdrew their guard from the

Presidential Palace immediately after the vote.

 

Gutierrez was removed by reason of a clause in the

Ecuadorian Constitution that allows for the removal of

a president for " abandonment of the position. " The

motion was made by Congressman Ramiro Rivera who

argued that the President had not complied with the

responsibilities of the Presidency.

 

" Congress in representation of the Ecuadorian people

has proceeded ... to declare Col. Lucio Gutierrez in

abandonment of the position of constitutional

president. Therefore, he has been ceased in the

position, " said Rivera.

 

Admiral Rosero said at a news conference, " We cannot

remain indifferent before the pronouncements of the

Ecuadorian people. In this scenario of anarchy the

military high command ... has been forced to make the

hard decision of withdrawing support from the

constitutional president in order to protect public

safety and recover peace and tranquility. "

 

Gutierrez was elected president in November 2002 after

campaigning as a populist, anti-corruption reformer.

But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart

after he instituted austerity measures, including

cutting subsidies on food and cooking fuel, to satisfy

lenders like the International Monetary Fund.

 

On April 19th, police fired tear gas and dispersed

about 30,000 people trying to reach the palace.

Demonstrators accused Gutierrez, a 48-year-old former

army colonel, of trying to illegally control the three

branches of government. Gutierrez dissolved the

Supreme Court on April 15th to try to placate protests

after his congressional allies in December fired most

of the court's judges ad named replacements

sympathetic to his government. That move was widely

viewed as unconstitutional and critics accused him of

trying to consolidate his power.

 

In the Galapagos, Gutierrez had the support of the

fishermen and was openly supporting the violent

opposition of the fishermen against the rangers and

the tourist industry.

 

In June 2004, Sea Shepherd crew stood with the rangers

to defend the offices of the Galapagos National Park.

Sea Shepherd crew were held hostage on Isabela island

by fishermen and were violently attacked on Santa Cruz

Island.

 

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is now in the fifth

year of a five year cooperative agreement with the

Galapagos National Park to provide a patrol vessel to

help police the Marine Reserve.

 

 

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society welcomes your

support. To learn how to support our conservation

work, please visit our donation page.

 

 

P.O. Box 2616, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 (USA) Tel:

360-370-5650 Fax: 360-370-5651

2005 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

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