Brazil grants former Ecuadorean leader asylum

QUITO, Ecuador -- Brazil has granted asylum to former President Lucio Gutierrez, who was ousted by Congress amid street protests calling for his removal for abuse of power. But many Ecuadoreans were outraged Thursday by his escape into exile.\nGutierrez, who had sought refuge in the Brazilian Embassy, was granted asylum on Wednesday, Brazilian Ambassador Sergio Florencia told Radio Caracol in Bogota, Colombia.\n"We are taking the necessary steps with the Ecuadorean Foreign Ministry to finalize procedures to obtain his safe conduct and his transfer to Brazil," Florencia said, adding that he hoped it would occur as soon as possible.\nBrazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva told his Chilean counterpart, Ricardo Lagos, that he was sending a plane to Quito to retrieve Gutierrez and bring him to Brazil.\nMeanwhile the Organization of American States questioned the legality of his removal from power and demanded an explanation from the government within 24 hours.\nLawmakers swore in Vice President Alfredo Palacio to replace Gutierrez on Wednesday, and he immediately promised to hold a referendum and constitutional assembly to create a new state structure.\n"People have lost trust in their representatives," Palacio said in a nationally televised address from the Defense Ministry Wednesday night, with the four members of the military high command standing behind him. "Our state is decrepit, obsolete."\nPalacio, a 66-year-old cardiologist, broke with Gutierrez shortly after their election in 2002.\nOn Thursday he announced five new ministers for Interior, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Economy and Foreign Commerce in the 15-member Cabinet.\nThe political crisis was only the latest in a long history of political instability in Ecuador, an oil-rich, mountainous nation of 12.5 million inhabitants on the northwest shoulder of South America.\nGutierrez was the third Ecuadorean leader forced from office in the past eight years for misconduct, and many Ecuadoreans were indignant that he could leave the country without being called to account for his alleged abuse of power.\n"I think what they should do with that man is arrest him. Don't let him get away like the others," Josefina Calderon, 31, a private secretary, said as she hurried to work on a cold, rain-drenched morning in this city high in the Andes. "I hope the police don't let him get away without punishment. He has to answer for what has happened in the last days."\nCarlos Garrido, 28, an auto salesman, agreed. "Brazil, as a sister nation, is obligated not to give asylum to that thief."\nGutierrez took office in January 2003 as a populist, anti-corruption reformer but soon angered many Ecuadoreans by implementing economic austerity measures. Ecuadoreans were also upset by the growing accusations of nepotism and corruption surrounding family members and his inner circle. Gutierrez's recent decision to overhaul the Supreme Court was seen by protesters as an illegal attempt to amass power.\nOn Wednesday, a special session made up of opposition legislators in the 100-seat unicameral Congress voted 62-0 to fire Gutierrez in hopes of ending a crisis that was spiraling out of control with the threat of violent clashes between government supporters and opponents.\nOn Thursday, the Organization of American States gave Ecuador a 24-hour deadline to explain how Congress justified dismissing Gutierrez under a constitutional clause allowing legislators to remove a president for "abandonment of the post" while he was still in the Government Palace issuing orders.\nCongressman Ramiro Rivera made the motion, arguing that since Gutierrez had not faithfully carried out the responsibilities of the presidency, Congress should declare it vacant.\nThe measure avoids a drawn-out impeachment process and is similar to what Congress did in 1997 when it dismissed President Abdala Bucaram for "mental incapacity." However, constitutional experts say the process violates the Constitution.