Ecuador's president, claiming coup attempt, 'won't relent' - CNN International

NEW: The government declares a state of emergencyThe president was led away in a gas mask after police lobbed tear gas at him"This is treason to the country," says President Rafael CorreaProtesting police say the government canceled bonuses and promotions
(CNN) -- Ecuador teetered on the verge of a government collapse Thursday, as national police took to the streets of Quito, the capital, and attacked the president over what police say was the cancellation of bonuses and promotions.
The government declared a one-week state of emergency Thursday afternoon and put the military in charge of security.
"This is a coup attempt," President Rafael Correa said in a TV interview a couple of hours after police lobbed tear gas at him.
Correa, who was forced to flee to a nearby hospital, said police were trying to get at him.
"They're trying to get into my room, maybe to attack me. I don't know," he said in a telephone interview with state-run Ecuador TV. "But, forget it. I won't relent. If something happens to me, remember my infinite love for my country, and to my family I say that I will love them anywhere I end up."
A video by CNN affiliate Ecuavisa later showed a defiant Correa standing at an upper floor window, shouting to a crowd of supporters, "If they want me, here I am," and then rapidly ripping his necktie loose
A broadcast by Ecuador TV showed mobs on the streets and clouds of black smoke coming from burning tires and garbage. Sporadic looting was reported.
Correa had taken to the streets to try to negotiate with police but was soon surrounded and jostled by a crowd and forced to flee after someone fired a tear gas canister at him. Some of those shoving him were police officers in full gear.
Video from CNN affiliate Teleamazonas shows a man in a tan suit punching Correa and trying to yank a gas mask off the president's face.
The broadcast then shows a hunched-over Correa being led away, his face still covered by the gas mask. Correa, who recently underwent knee surgery, leaned on a crutch with his left arm.
A news photograph later showed him lying on a stretcher.
A government helicopter had tried to evacuate him but was unable to land.
He went on the air from a hospital a couple of hours later to denounce what he called a cowardly attack.
"They fired gas on us -- on the president of the republic," Correa said in a telephone interview with Ecuador TV. "This is treason to the country, treason to their president."
Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino led a large and boisterous pro-government rally at the Carondelet Palace, the president's home. He urged the crowd to take to the streets to peacefully "reject this coup" and "to rescue our president."
Said Patino, "We are not afraid of anyone."
Analysts pointed to the government's precariousness.
"This is the most serious protest that the government of Rafael Correa has faced," analyst Eduardo Gamarra told CNN en Espa?ol.
Rank-and-file police took over their agency's headquarters, Ecuador TV said.
There also were reports that the military had taken control of their bases and the airport.
Most of the military remained neutral, though there were reports that some rebellious units seemed to side with the police uprising.
Ecuador has nearly 58,000 members in its military and 33,000 in the national police force, according to Jane's Intelligence Review.
The military, Jane's said, is undergoing a professionalism transformation designed to give it greater flexibility.
The National Civil Police, meanwhile, is the nation's major law enforcement organization.
Government officials tried to quell the rebellion, insisting that the security forces had been misinformed and warning that the nation's democracy was in danger.
"I want to tell the country there has been an attempt at a coup," said Gabriel Rivera of the Country Accord Party.
"This is a Machiavellian plan organized by sectors of the right," Rivera said on Ecuador TV.
Miguel Carvajal, the minister for interior security, said there was no threat to salaries or benefits. He blamed the reports of the benefit cuts on a massive disinformation campaign.
"He who says that is lying," Carvajal said.
"We call on the citizens. We call on the armed forces. We call on other governments to defend our democratic institutions," he said.
A police spokesman went on the air on Teleamazonas to dispute the government's allegations, saying that the security forces were in fact supporting Correa.
"Fellow officers who hear me nationally, stop this action," said the spokesman, identified only as Sgt. Mejia. "Don't close the streets. Return to the streets to work."
The disturbances occurred as Correa threatened to dissolve the national assembly over a dispute about several laws, including public service and education.
Angry police said they were overworked and underpaid.
"We work 14 hours a day," a uniformed officer said on Ecuador TV. "We are the ones who never protest."
Said another: "One hour without police. Let's see what happens."
Diego Borja, director of the central bank, went on the air to urge calm and for people to take care.
"The police are not protecting the people. They are protesting," he said. "There could be problems."
He also sought to prevent a run on deposits.
"The money is safe," he said. "But be careful if making large withdrawals."
Peru closed its border with Ecuador, and messages of support for Correa came from the governments of Argentina and Venezuela.CNN's Rafael Romo contributed to this report.
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Boehner Outlines Changes if GOP Takes House - New York Times

As minority leader, Mr. Boehner, of Ohio, is in line to become speaker if his party captures control of the House, and in his speech Thursday, he set out specific ways in which he would overhaul the legislative process, from upending the appropriations system to giving rank-and-file members more power and requiring that the enactment of any new program be accompanied by at least an equivalent cutback in another program.

Mr. Boehner placed Republicans and Democrats alike in the cross hairs, arguing that both parties had engaged in the sins of earmarking, overreaching and partisan pettiness. Mr. Boehner was perhaps trying to appeal to an electorate weary of partisan bickering and legislative inaction and to respond directly to the calls for “changing the system” that have fueled many Tea Party candidates this year and President Obama’s campaign in 2008.

“Republicans should not start from the assumption that all government is bad,” he said, “nor should Democrats start from the assumption that all government is good.”

He added: “Instead of clamping down even further, it’s my view that we should open this process up and let the battle of ideas help break down the scar tissue between the two parties.”

Mr. Boehner, in prepared remarks of his speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy group, proposed a series of largely procedural measures that he said would make government both more responsive and more transparent.

Mr. Boehner called for rewriting the budget act; ceasing the appropriations practice in budget bills of cobbling together spending across vast agencies; ending leadership-driven legislation that freezes out the vast majority of members; and instituting a cut-as-you-go requirement in which any member offering a new program must “terminate or reduce spending on an existing government program of equal or greater size — in the very same bill.”

In a final smack to members, who are fond of spending hours on the floor discussing things like the virtues of handcrafted beers and accompanying resolutions to honor them, Mr. Boehner said Congress ought to “consider taking all these commemorative moments and special honors, and handle them during special orders and one-minute speeches.”

Mr. Boehner was among a group of Republicans first elected to the House in 1990 known as the Gang of Seven who set their sights on ethics scandals and Congressional perks that tainted members of both parties. In his speech Thursday, Mr. Boehner seemed to put his own party on notice for a reform-minded agenda that he imagines under his tutelage, but framed it as an antidote to the practices of the current Democratic majority.

“It’s hard to guarantee a fair debate,” he said, “when the majority has the ability to change bills in the dark of night and literally drop them into the laps of the minority just hours before debate is set to start.”

How popular such proposals will be among even the Republican caucus is very much in question. Earmarks remain popular with many lawmakers, and watering down the appropriations process would fundamentally alter the power structure in the House by siphoning power from the appropriators.

But, Mr. Boehner lamented, “instead of tallying up a final flurry of legislative output, observers and constituents are asking, ‘What went wrong?’ ”

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Rahm Emanuel expected to announce resignation tomorrow; Pete Rouse expected to ... - Washington Post

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will announce his resignation Friday, multiple administration officials said, continuing a series of key staffing changes ahead of the midterm elections.
Pete Rouse, a senior adviser who was President Obama's chief of staff in the Senate, is expected to fill the role at least on an interim basis, although several officials said he could wind up in the job permanently.
Obama will make two "personnel announcements" in the East Room at 11:05 a.m. Friday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday. Obama is expected to announce the Emanuel and Rouse moves at the same time, to maintain as much continuity as possible.
Emanuel has been setting the stage for his departure for weeks, since the moment outgoing Chicago Mayor Richard Daley (D) said he would not run for reelection. The question of whether and when Emanuel would leave has been a sizable distraction, people who work with the White House said, as other senior officials try to assess what the vacancy will mean and what other moves will be set in motion.
Rouse, a longtime former Senate staffer, is a popular choice among the White House staff. Already intimately involved in most major internal decisions, he is seen as a problem-solver, often wrestling with the president's most difficult dilemmas.
He is so well known in the Senate - where for many years he was a senior aide to then-Majority Leader Thomas Daschle - that he was often referred to as the 101st senator. Yet he has a much lower public profile than Emanuel's.
kornbluta@washpost.com cillizzac@washpost.com
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