The situation in Ecuador "has largely normalized" after the police and military revolt the day before, Quito-based journalist Marc Saint-Upery said in the early hours of Friday.
"There are still difficulties of transportation," Saint-Upery told RIA Novosti by telephone from Quito. "It is not 100 percent normal, but the situation has rather normalized and is now peaceful."
The revolt, during which President Rafael Correa was assaulted in a police barracks, was triggered by police protesting against cancellation of some of their benefits.
Saint Upery said he saw no overt political demands in the protest and in some cities the striking officers went back to work after a couple of hours.
"It seems that only a nucleus of police officers involved were politically mobilized for other reasons than this [the benefits], Saint-Upery said. "Some of the officials, especially in the Regiment of Quito were saying that Lucio Gutierrez, who is a leading figure in one section of the right-wing opposition, had done something for the officers. Some of the officers were shouting Viva Lucio."
"The president called it a coup. But if it was a coup, it was the most poorly organized coup I have ever seen in my life," Saint-Upery said.
The violence in Equador, he said, had "no support from the leaders of the army, the institutions or leaders of society. There was no intense polarization in Equador," he added.
The question now is if the president is going to do what he had threatened, and dissolve the National Assembly and call general elections, including for his own mandate, he said.
MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti)
