Reactions In Cuenca To Ecuador's Police Strike

This morning, I taught my regular Saturday morning class at the Abraham Lincoln school (quick recap - to be a professor, I have to also be a private school teacher. Follow that logic? Me neither. Welcome to Ecuador). I was looking forward to it today because it was a chance to do a good survey of local reactions to this week's police strike in Ecuador.

The teachers at the school are a mix of Cuenca locals and foreigners. My students come from middle and upper class families, and they're the equivalent of sophomores in high school. My class is all girls and very sweet. They can giggle in two languages.

Anyway, our lesson today was on gangsters and heroes (I just follow the book, people) and we had to make sentences expressing who is a hero and why. Soldiers are heroes, because they save Ecuador from the police. This earned a number of solemn nods from around the class. Soldiers are also cuter than the police, which earned laughs.

The girls then confessed to having spent the day of the police strike in Ecuador mostly glued to the television with their families. Those who have relatives in Quito or Guayaquil checked in throughout the day by email and cell phone to keep tabs on the public unrest in Ecuador. Many of my Cuencana students do have family on the coast, and so checking in - especially after the roads closed - was important. All the public schools in the country were closed Friday, which the students dismissed as "boring" since exams are coming up and they had to study anyway.

Among the local teachers in Cuenca, the mood was cautious relief. Several confessed to having been truly frightened. "I'm not easily scared," said one, "but that really shook me up." Correa, after all, is supposed to be different, and not susceptible to the coup d'etats that took out a number of his predecessors.

One of the long-time foreign teachers expressed ambivalence about the whole situation. "This is my fourth coup," he said, shrugging. I didn't ask if it was his fourth coup in Ecuador, but dang. Can you imagine?

In terms of the mood on the street, there are a number of stores that should be open that are still closed today (Saturday) but no real sense of emergency. People seem to be a little shaken that it happened, but mostly relieved that it's over. Speculation about the political outcomes is rampant among expats, but the locals just shrug and say, "Who knows what will happen?"

I'm with the locals. It's Ecuador. Who knows what will happen?

Police Strike In Ecuador Leads To Quiet Night

It's mid-evening in Cuenca, and it seems like it is going to be a quiet night. The news media may prove me wrong in the morning, but this photo I just took of Cuenca's streets on the first night of the police strike pretty much sums up the state of affairs around here:

I'm off until tomorrow unless something major happens. Given the crowds on the street, I think I will be sleeping peacefully tonight.

Ecuador Coup Seems Less Serious In Cuenca

Tonight in Cuenca, extremists thought that rioters would be taking to the streets in response to the so-called Ecuador coup. However, walking into Parque Calderon, we surprised the crew setting up the food tent.

Food tents, people. Food tents in the middle of a mass political demonstration? What is this?

This is actually not being very serious. There were about 200 people gathered by the government buildings in Parque Calderon by 7 pm, listening to speeches in support of Correa's actions. A live band started to play when the speeches finished, and children danced in the green spaces of the park.

Shops and restaurants that were closed earlier in the day are already reopening. The bars and restaurants of Cuenca were doing a booming business as we walked to and from the park. People seem to be in a cheerful mood, even the breakfast tent crew.

What will happen next? Some of it depends on what happens tonight in other parts of the country. The Ecuadorian government has declared a state of emergency and the borders are presently closed, but if all stays quiet this police strike may be a flash-in-the-pan news event. Fingers crossed!

Cuenca Mayor Assure Us All Is Well

Cuenca seems to be taking a pass on the national unrest in Ecuador. The mayor of Cuenca was just up on the news, pointing out that the local police do not intend to go on strike and insisting that all was going to be calm here.

We'll see. There are soldiers on patrol on the streets of Cuenca, though they are being quiet about it. Most shops are closed up, and the local bars are shutting down for the day to avoid the possibility of being looted. Still, the weather this afternoon is gorgeous, and it seems like most people are more interested in having a relaxing day off now that the national agencies and schools are closed than getting themselves into any kind of revolutionary fervor.

Even just a few hours into knowing about it, my impression is that locally we all have gone on high alert JUST IN CASE but probably not much is going to happen, at least until it gets dark and the beer supplies run down. Even then . . . I can smell roasting meat from the neighbors. BBQ night, perhaps? I mean, I don't want to make light of their civil unrest here, but I've seen worse in China when they rioted in Shanghai. Going to do some other things for a bit until I have more news!

Photos From The Police Strike In Ecuador

Here's something you don't see everyday. The police threw tear gas - at the President of Ecuador. He was trying to give a speech, and now he's hanging out in the hospital, protected by guards.

Good quality Ecuador police strike photos here: http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/LaPropiaFoto/Detalle.aspx?idTema=131

Note that Correa - the president - has a cane because he recently had knee surgery. Also, he doesn't hide behind his FBI-type people - instead, he told the police "You want to kill me? I'm here!" Don't exactly get that in the US!

Police Strike In Ecuador; Cuenca Sitting Tight

The national government of Ecuador is under fire after putting an end to some of the benefits previously received by the police. The police have gone on strike, and things are getting a bit out of hand.

At the end of the day, its about money and power. In the middle of the day, it's about figuring out what's going on.

In Cuenca, things are quiet. The President of Ecuador has been hit with tear gas, and they are burning things in the streets of Guayaquil. Airline service in and out of the country has been suspended, though some flights en route are being accepted.

The Internet from Etapa, the state agency, has been in and out all morning. This afternoon we got world that the schools are closed, as well as the Supermaxi (Cuenca's biggest supermarket) and the Feria Libre (Cuenca's biggest indigenous market). People are going to ground among the gringo population, stocking their fridges and staying tuned to the television.

I'm okay. I have a full fridge, a hovering, macho boyfriend who can't quite hide his excitement about the ongoing "revolution" and I live behind three locked doors and an electric fence. I'll be on Twitter as I get updates, and I'll be in and out of the Internet as we have coverage. The Embassy is officially telling everyone to stay calm and stay home, which seems like a decent plan to me!