page_title: 2010 Ecuador crisis
section_title: Attack on the president
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Ecuador crisis / Attack on the president
caption_attribution_description: Rafael Correa. En Río de Janeiro en ocasión de la Cumbre de Presidentes del Mercosur. Foto oficial
context_page_description: The 2010 Ecuador crisis took place on 30 September 2010, when elements of the National Police blockaded highways, occupied the National Parliament, blocked the Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito and the José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil, and took over TV Ecuador's station, in what they claimed was a strike to oppose a government-sponsored law that supposedly reduced their benefits. Unrest and looting was reported in seven provincial capitals of the country due to the lack of law enforcement.
  President Rafael Correa went to the police headquarters in Quito despite recommendations from his own security personnel not to attend and make things worse. He was ill-received, making a harsh speech in which he accused the police ranks of treason to the people and the country, and dared them to kill him. After he was pelted by the police ranks and a tear gas canister went off, Correa was escorted to a hospital in the same compound. According to El País, The New York Times, El Correo and Correa himself, the policemen then surrounded the building and prevented him from leaving.
context_section_description: On the morning of 30 September, members of the Ecuadorian Armed Forces and National Police occupied several barracks and set up road blocks in nine of the country's provincial capitals to demand that special bonuses paid to the police and military. These police and armed forces occupied the National Assembly building. The Ecuadorian Air Force shut down Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito and José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil, forcing their closure for several hours. Police also blocked roads in Guayaquil, the largest city of Ecuador, and reported unrest in 2 other cities. Looters also ransacked banks, supermarkets and shopping malls in the port city of Guayaquil.
  President Correa went to the police barracks in Quito where he arrived at 11:00 A.M. (GMT+5); after being ill-received  – an honor guard was not assembled – he first tried to have a dialogue with the police and criticized their actions as treason to "the people and the country", but after hearing hostile police chant "Lucio presidente, Lucio presidente" he screamed "'If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill me, if you want to. Kill me if you are brave enough!" After Correa had left the barracks, he was attacked by the police with a tear gas canister that almost hit Correa's head. Demonstrators tried to kick his knee that had recently been operated on. Correa was walking with a cane because of the operation.
  Correa was escorted to a hospital in the same compound. Police forces outside the hospital building surrounded it and kept him from leaving; a helicopter tried to evacuate him and his entourage but was prevented from landing by obstacles in the landing pad. They also arrested one member of his close protection team.  La Hora Nacional however reported that two hospital employees denied it was a hostage situation, El País reported recorded dialogues between the policemen, in which they announce their intentions to kill him or put him out of office.
  From the hospital, Correa declared a state of emergency, after he accused the opposition and security forces of an attempted coup and orchestrating the protests. He stated that he was declaring a five-day state of emergency in an attempt to restore order.
  Reports indicated the armed forces remained loyal to the constitutional order. Correa said that a rescue operation had been ready for a few hours, but was postponed so as to avoid more bloodshed. Correa's supporters, as well, urged by the country's foreign minister to rescue "their president," were stopped from meeting the president, and clashed with the police around Quito. They reportedly chanted "This is not Honduras," in reference to the 2009 coup in that country. Hundreds of Correa supporters gathered outside the National Assembly, which was seized by striking police, while Interior Minister Gustavo Jahlk met with representatives of the rebellious police.
  By afternoon, protesters took control of the channels. Many attacks on journalists and photojournalists by rebellious police, have been denounced in Quito and other cities. Workers and equipment of Ecuador TV, Radio Pública, Ecuavisa, Teleamazonas, and El Comercio, were object of aggression, several ecuatorian journalists being wounded. International journalists, from AFP and teleSUR have also been attacked.
caption: "If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill me, if you want to. Kill me if you are brave enough!"[5]", President Rafael Correa shouted at the policemen.[32]
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