AddThis SmartLayers

Former regional journalist caught up in coup drama

A former journalist at a regional daily has been caught up in an attempted coup in Ecuador.

Roland Hughes, who used to work at the Daily Post in North Wales, had spent months travelling around South America and was in Ecuador when trouble flared up last week.

He was stranded in the country as airports and highways were shut on Thursday but he managed to arrange a flight home at the weekend.

The trouble was sparked by protests against a new law and led to President Rafael Correa being tear-gassed by police then trapped in a hospital for 12 hours in what he claimed was an attempted coup.

Roland said he heard gunfire and feared he could end up being stranded in Ecuador for months.

He said: “Shops shut and some were looted, trams had stalled on the streets, and everyone seemed to feel we were in it for the long run. As much as I had enjoyed being in Ecuador, I wasn’t really ready to spend months here.

“You sensed the tone of the protests could change at any moment, and the fact there was so much disinformation floating around made it all the more edgy.

“At one point, when I was among the 5,000 or so supporters of Correa who had come together in one square, word came the protestors were approaching.

“Thousands of them rushed in that direction, clearly baying for blood. Even though that came to nothing, it really showed how volatile the whole situation was.”

Roland, from Prestatyn, later heard machine gun fire while he standing on a roof to get a view of the city.

He added: “It carried on for a few minutes, and at that point we just didn’t know whether the police had succeeded in killing the president, or whether everything was over.

“It was terrifying, and the hour until the news of the president’s release was a jumpy one.”

The unrest in Ecuador was triggered by a new law cutting bonuses and benefits for public servants, including the police, and it is now understood the government will make changes to it.

One comment

You can follow all replies to this entry through the comments feed.
  • October 5, 2010 at 4:47 pm
    Permalink

    I am wondering if this reporter was in the same Ecuador that I live. There was no looting in Quito, the buses and “trams” ran all day. There was no street crime in Quito. The Quitanios remained calm throughout the ordeal. I was out and about the city during the day and night and I never heard any gun shots. Whe the rescue attempt proceeded there was gun fire, but not in the city, only at the hospital during the President’s rescue. There was some looting in Guyaquil, but as a whole, the country remained quiet and safe. I feel safer in Quito than I do in London or Washington, DC. It is typical when the news gets reported by opinion versus facts.

    Report this comment

    Like this comment(0)