Nicebird Exclusive! Unrest in Ecuador

Have you been following all the political unrest in Ecuador? Well, Old Ken has observed it with some trepidation, thinking about our dear friend Carmencita (pictured above in happier times) who lives there. Upon contacting her, she has supplied the following description of the state of things in the capital Quito while setting the events in context. Exclusive to Nicebirdrox, here is her report:

"It all started out as a strike. The police force in Ecuador decided to go on strike on Thursday. There were some robberies in Guayaquil specially, a couple of things in Quito, but nothing too serious.

"Things got bad because our irresponsible president decided to go to the police headquarters, not willing to negotiate, but acting as complete macho, opening his shirt, and saying that he was ready to receive bullets on his chest! Things escalated, he was taken to the police hospital, and was kept there as a hostage. People in the government took advantage of this, arguing that it was an attempt at overthrowing the president, and that politicians behind the police were planning a coup (not true, apparently). The government then prevented independent TV networks to broadcast any news, and forced them to broadcast their own version of the events.

"In the evening, the army broke into the police headquarters and rescued the president, and sadly, a few people died. Now, we all have mixed feelings for what happened on Thursday. We are very sad because people died for no reason, some of us are angry at the President, others still think of him as a great hero! But anyway, everything went back to normal on Friday." Thanks Carmencita, and we'll continue to watch this unfolding story.