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Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez on Tuesday was once again under intense pressure to step down, as crowds of people gathered in the capital city of Quito again to demand his resignation and protest against his government.
At least 30,000 people gathered on Tuesday at a park in northern Quito pressing the president to resign, which has been the largest demonstration so far against Gutierrez in Quito.
Carrying Ecuador's national flag, city flag of Quito and anti-government slogans, the demonstrators chanted "Lucio out" and "All out" -- referring to the government, the congress and judiciary, with passing-by vehicles honking their horns to show support.
Hundreds of university students gathered in another park in the city center before trying to march to the congress. They were joined by some 2,000 protesters composed of elders, housewives and children who chanted "Lucio out" while banging pots and pans across the city.
Their protests came just hours after the Congress late Sunday ratified the decision to dissolve the Supreme Court.
Gutierrez announced the decision to dissolve the Supreme Court on Friday to try to placate protests after his congressional allies in December fired most of the court's judges and named replacements sympathetic to his government.
That move was widely viewed as unconstitutional, and critics accused him of trying to illegally control all three branches of government.
Gutierrez, a formal army colonel elected in 2002, also declared a state of emergency Friday that banned public protests in Quito. He lifted the emergency measures Saturday, less than 24 hours later as residents took to the streets to demand his resignation, in defiance of the ban.
The streets of Quito were calm Monday after five days of protests, but on Tuesday, the city was once again engulfed in wide protests.
On Monday night, tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, demanding Gutierrez to step down. There were also smaller protests in the cities of Machala on the Pacific coast and Cuenca and Riobamba in the Andean highlands.
The mayor of Quito has declared emergency state in the city and set up an emergency action committee to guard against possible clashes.
(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2005)
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