“If you want to kill the president, here he is. Kill him, if you want to. Kill him, if you are brave enough.” These were the words President Rafael Correa of Ecuador proclaimed to a crowd filled with angry police officers in the main army barracks of Quito on Thursday, September 30th. The president yelled and tore at his shirt, daring police officers, angry over new austerity measures imposed by the federal government,to backup their words with action and kill him. Apparently some of the police officers took his urging to heart.

Ecuador erupted into violence on Thursday following weeks of political demonstrations and uncertainty. On Wednesday, September 29th, President Correa vetoed a new civil service law, thereby reducing benefits for police officers and other public employees and increasing the amount of time necessary for a promotion. Members of the national police force were angry that the president had passed such a law without seeking input from public employees. There have been a series of popular protests and movements against such a veto in recent months. On Thursday, some of the lower ranks of the police force staged a mutiny in protest of the president’s veto in an effort to make their opinions known. Although the national police chief expressed his loyalty to the president, lower ranking police officers occupied barracks and set up road blocks throughout the country. Some also occupied the National Assembly building and the national airport in Quito, leading to their closure for several hours. In the police force’s absence, widespread looting and crime ensued on the streets of Quito. Businesses and schools were shut down amidst security concerns. That afternoon, following Correa’s fiery speech to a crowd of protesters, police officers released tear gas into the crowd.

At that point, the administration of President Correa shut down all other forms of media except for the national, state-run television station, Cadena Nacional de Noticias. Therefore, the official version of the ensuing series of events is markedly one-sided in favor of President Correa. International news media,such as CNN and BBC, have reported that the president was injured when he was hit in the face by tear gas. The president also claims that a police officer attempted to rip off his face mask and choke him. The president was rushed to the national army hospital in Quito. While he was being treated by medical personnel, pro-testing police officers began to gather outside the hospital. BBC and CNN report that these officers forcibly prevented the president from leaving the hospital, essentially kidnapping him and holding him hostage. However, critics have noted that other members of the government entered and left the hospital freely throughout the ordeal, suggesting that the president could have left at any time.

The national media urged the general population to come to the defense of their president and rescue him from the rioting police officers. Crowds of civilians and members of the military gathered outside the hospital and soon clashed with the rioting police officers. CNN reports that the government estimates that four people died in the ensuing gunfire, including one university student, while over 200 people were injured nationwide on Thursday, although critics claim that there are far more casualties. The president was finally rushed away by army special forces after more than twelve hours in the hospital, and taken to the national palace, at which point he made another fiery speech to a cheering crowd, praising them for this “triumph” and insisting that there would be “no pardon or forgiveness” for those responsible for the violence.

BBC reports that President Correa also insisted that “this was an attempted coup, an attempt to destabilize the government, which failed thanks to the Ecuadorean people.” However, critics insist that the police officers never wanted to overthrow the government; they simply wanted to have their voices heard. Analyst Roberto Izurieta told CCN en Español that “the elements for a coup do not exist. There was no political movement or a call for the president to leave office. There was no intent to put the presidency in the power of another person. What occurred was an uprising from part of the police.” Indeed, Tracey Tokuhama Espinosa, a professor at Universidad San Francisco de Quito and a BBC news correspondent, says that the police actually submitted a petition with nine specific points of disagreement with the austerity law. This petition indicates that “it was never the intention of the police to hold a coup-they wanted to be heard, like the media, universities and other public servants whose opinions have been ignored up to now.” Other nations, including the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile and Argentina, quickly denounced the violence and pledged their support for the democratically elected leader.

Since the unrest, the nation has remained extremely tense. A national state of emergency was in place for over a week after the violence, and the National Assembly building remains guarded by military forces with armored vehicles. Despite contrary allegations, the government still maintains that the unrest amounted to an attempted coup and claims that former president Lucío Gutierrez, leader of the oppositional Patriotic Society Party, is responsible for conspiring to carry out the coup, charges that Gutierrez adamantly denies. The government has released recordings of police officers that it claims prove that some police officers were plotting to kill the president, although the reliability of these tapes cannot be verified. The chief of the national police force, Freddy Martinez, has resigned amidst the unrest, and President Correa has promised to “purge” the 42,000 member national police force of all dissidents. Despite the President’s tough stance, the administration has recently revised the austerity law and increased army and police pay, perhaps signaling willingness to compromise with police officers. In another promising turn of events, President Correa has agreed not to dissolve Congress. Immediately following the violence, the president had vowed to dissolve the National Assembly and rule by decree, powers which were granted to him by the new federal constitution that his administration drafted and approved in 2008.

Despite these compromises, the situation in the country remains very tense. Ecuador has a long history of political unrest; there have been eight presidents since 1996. The leftist Correa was initially elected in 2006 with the promise of pushing a socialist agenda. He was re-elected for a second term in 2009. He has the support of the Alianza País party in the National Assembly, and his ad`ministration has been able to make significant changes especially in redistributing capital to poorer populations and improving the education system, but he has faced harsh criticism about his unwillingness to listen to opposing viewpoints, his alliances with Hugo Chavez and his confrontational personal demeanor. Critics insist that the president’s taking over of all forms of media represents a threat to freedom of the press and other rights guaranteed under a democracy. Tokuhama Espinosa insists that “no one wants to overthrow the government; people just want to be heard and are extremely frustrated at the farce played out in Congress (in which laws are passed but vetoed by the President, or that they pass because ‘the president says so’ without proper debate or integration of opposing viewpoints).” Clearly, the reality of what occurred in Ecuador remains unclear, and the situation remains tense and extremely complex.