The 2000 Ecuadorian coup d'état took place on 21 January 2000 and resulted in President

Jamil Mahuad Jorge Jamil Mahuad Witt (born 29 July 1949) is an Ecuadorian lawyer, academic and former politician who served the 41st president of Ecuador from 1998 until he was deposed in a coup in 2000. He previously served as the 17th mayor of Quito from ...

being deposed, and replaced by Vice President

Gustavo Noboa Gustavo José Joaquín Noboa Bejarano (21 August 1937 – 16 February 2021) was an Ecuadorian politician who served as the 42nd president of Ecuador from 22 January 2000 to 15 January 2003. Previously he served as the 42nd Vice President of Ecua ...

.Barracca, Steven 'Military coups in the post-cold war era: Pakistan, Ecuador and Venezuela', Third World Quarterly, 28:1, 137 - 154 The coup coalition brought together a short-lived junta composed by the country's most powerful indigenous group,

Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador () or, more commonly, CONAIE, is Ecuador's largest indigenous rights organization. The Ecuadorian Indian movement under the leadership of CONAIE is often cited as the best-organized and ...

(CONAIE), and a group of junior military officers led by Lieutenant Colonel Lucio Gutiérrez. Amidst a severe economic crisis, the coup coalition sought to emulate the populist democracy and economy of

Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; ; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician, Bolivarian Revolution, revolutionary, and Officer (armed forces), military officer who served as the 52nd president of Venezuela from 1999 until De ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. The coup ultimately failed, with senior military officers opposed to the programme installing the elected

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

, and imprisoning coup leaders.Zamosc, Leon (2007),
The Indian Movement and Political Democracy in Ecuador
, ''Latin American Politics and Society'', 49.3. pp1-34

Background

There was a severe economic crisis in Ecuador (including the 1998–99 Ecuador economic crisis), which had led to a 60% cut in the armed forces budget. There were also concerns about

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. Mahuad's popularity rating had fallen from 60% in October 1998 to 6% in January 2000. In the early days of 2000, Mahuad announced the

dollarization Currency substitution is the use of a foreign currency in parallel to or instead of a domestic currency. Currency substitution can be full or partial. Full currency substitution can occur after a major economic crisis, such as in Ecuador, El S ...

of the

economy of Ecuador The economy of Ecuador is the eighth largest in Latin America and the 69th largest in the world by total GDP. Ecuador's economy is based on the export of oil, bananas, shrimp, gold, other primary agricultural products and money transfers from ...

, along with a number of

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

measures.

Coup

In response to the economic plans "Indigenous crowds flocked to Quito demanding Mahuad's dismissal and occupying

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

." On 21 January 2000 Lucio Gutiérrez and CONAIE President Antonio Vargas declared a "government of national salvation". This led to "frantic consultations among generals, politicians, and US diplomats", and ultimately saw senior military officers install Vice President

as president and arrest the coup leaders. During the coup, there was little mobilisation against it, and a survey showed widespread popular support for CONAIE's occupation of Congress, which had allowed the military to call for Mahuad's resignation. However, there was little public support for military rule, a fact senior military officers conducting the negotiations during the coup were aware of. The military's senior officers opposed the coalition's plans, and had close ties with the country political and economic elite, who also opposed them (such as influential former president and then-Mayor of

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

León Febres Cordero León Esteban Febres-Cordero Ribadeneyra (9 March 1931 – 15 December 2008), known in the Ecuadorian media as LFC or more simply Febres-Cordero, was an Ecuadorian politician who was the 35th President of Ecuador, serving a four-year term from ...

). They were also influenced by threats of US economic sanctions. In addition, the role of junior officers in the coup was seen as a subversion of the military hierarchy, and Chief of the Military High Command, General Carlos Mendoza, said that the generals could not accept Lieutenant Colonel Lucio Gutiérrez as a ruling junta's military representative. There were negotiations about replacing Gutiérrez with Mendoza, but shortly after the junta accepted this, "Mendoza hijacked the coup and put an end to it by handing power over to the vice president of the country."

Aftermath

Gutiérrez was imprisoned for four months, and then expelled from the army. He ran for president in the 2002 general elections and was elected, taking office in January 2003, but his support collapsed and he was himself ousted after a popular revolt in April 2005, which saw the third and final overthrow (to date) of a democratically elected government in Ecuador. This recently turbulent period of Ecuadorian history ended with the 2006 election of

Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as the 45th president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Corr ...

, an academic outsider who opposed and condemned the practices of traditional parties, political and economical elites, while moving a leftist, anti-neoliberal and populist agenda which since 2007 has seen an increase in public spending, a new

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, social programs and an anti-imperialist foreign policy aligned with the

socialism of the 21st century Socialism of the 21st century (; ; ) is an interpretation of socialist principles first advocated by German sociologist and political analyst Heinz Dieterich and taken up by a number of Latin American leaders. Dieterich argued in 1996 that ...

, despite accusations of curtailing freedoms, particularly speech and press.

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 28 May 2013
Ecuador: Stability but at what price?
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2000 Ecuadorian Coup d'etat Ecuadorian Coup d'etat Coup d'etat Military coups in Ecuador

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Ecuadorian Coup d'etat Military history of Ecuador Political history of Ecuador January 2000 in South America