Ecuador: People, Yes!

ECUADOR "People, Yes!"

In Ecuador's 135 years of independence, only 13 elected presidents have lasted out their four-year terms. Early last week Ecuadorians were at it again, overthrowing the military junta that had overthrown their last president. But it didn't stop there. By week's end they were threatening to overthrow the government that had overthrown the junta that had overthrown their last president.

Sense of Un-Togetherness. Ecuador's troubles make the rest of Latin America look like a model of stability. No fewer than 15 political parties and factions constantly vie for attention, and jungle, coastal swampland and Andean peaks divide the country into three mutually suspicious regions. To add to the sense of un-togetherness, 1% of the population owns 60% of the land, and in the bleak highlands, where half of the country's 5,000,000 people live in medieval squalor and ignorance, hacienda owners pay their workers as little as 5¢ a day. The four-man military junta that toppled hard-drinking President Carlos Julio Arosemena three years ago promised to change all that. In a blizzard of decrees, they set out on a daring program that sought moderate landreform, modernized tax collections, a civil-service law, and more highways, housing and schools.

Some of their hopes were realized; others bogged down in hopeless inefficiency and bad planning. Businessmen were soon complaining about government interference; everyone else griped about the junta's delay in calling elections. Recently, the political right, center and left formed a united opposition that erupted in a series of demonstrations by merchants and students alike. As the decibel count climbed in Quito and the commercial capital of Guayaquil, the junta's patience began running out. Two weeks ago, 500 troops armed with rifles and machine guns swarmed onto the campus of Quito's Central University, firing into the air, hustling 800 students and professors off to jail—and triggering even more demonstrations throughout the country.

Finally, the military decided that things had indeed gone too far. Fearing a split within the armed forces, the junta agreed to step down, and the military high command—led by General Telmo Vargas, chief of the general staff —invited politicians to designate a provisional president. They chose Clemente Yerovi Indaburu, 61, a respected economist, banker and businessman who promised "congressional and presidential elections as soon as possible."

Voices of Disapproval. Students cheered the election promise but not Yerovi, whom they viewed as a symbol of the hated oligarchy. In Guayaquil, Cuenca and Loja, they stormed government buildings and held them for hours. Nevertheless, Yerovi went calmly ahead and took the oath of office as Ecuador's 57th president. "I have heard voices of disapproval for my presence here," he said in his inaugural address. "I would like them to know my point of view." With that Yerovi promised peace, austerity and economic stability. Meantime, students outside were chanting on: "People, yes! Yerovi, no!"