-Caveat Lector- Tuesday, February 6 8:12 PM SGT Ecuador's Indians win face time with president after day of bloody clashes QUITO, Feb 6 (AFP) - President Gustavo Noboa was to meet with Indian protesters for negotiations Tuesday, four days after he had ruled out such a meeting and declared a state of emergency to rein in massive protests. The meeting was announced late Monday after a one hour meeting between the two sides at the presidential palace here, and following a day in which three Indians were killed and 29 others wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces. The breakthrough was announced by Nina Pacari, a political spokeswoman for the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE). There was no immediate confirmation from the government. "Under a compromise worked out at the meeting, police have already begun to withdraw from the Salesian Polytechnic University," she said. The local university was the site of a clash earlier Monday between security forces and Indians who have occupied the campus since January 29. Moving in on foot and horseback, about 80 police used tear gas to try to remove some 6,000 protesters, but were repelled by Indians brandishing wooden spears posted at entrances to the campus. That confrontation followed the deaths of three Indians during an operation by security forces to forcibly remove about 700 protesters blocking a bridge at Puerto Napo, 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Quito, according to Red Cross officials. The Indians are protesting scarcity measures imposed at the start of the year, including a 100 percent hike in the cost of fuel and 75 percent rise in public transportation costs. They are also protesting the replacement last year of the local currency, the sucre, with the US dollar. The dollarization process was accompanied by 91 percent inflation. Noboa had declared a state of emergency Friday following the collapse of negotiations, after Indians demanded to meet with him and he refused. Representing the Indians in talks with Noboa Tuesday will be Antonio Vargas, the 40-year-old president of CONAIE, who was a key player in a coup d'etat on January 21, 2000 which toppled then-president Jamil Mahuad. Backed by 10,000 Indians who flooded downtown Quito, Vargas was part of a three-member civilian-military government that lasted only four hours before handing power over to Noboa, Mahuad's vice president. Though Noboa, by all accounts, has the support of the military in defending against the indigenous uprising, his popularity among Ecuador's civilians is declining rapidly. Noboa began his mandate in January, 2000, with 51 percent of the country backing him. In a poll released Monday, however, his numbers had plummeted to just 28 percent, with 54 percent of Ecuadorans registering support for the indigenous protests. Questions or Comments Copyright © 2000 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses. Copyright © 1994-2001 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
