Looking Away as a Democracy Dies

As shown by its reaction to the disputed elections in Ukraine, Washington can do a lot to defend democracy. But Washington isn’t paying much attention to the ominous slide of democracy closer to home. Ecuador, where a recent rupture in democratic practices has sadly gone unnoticed, is a case in point.

The South American nation of about 13 million people was, in 1979, among the first in the region to turn from military, authoritarian government to constitutional rule. Although President Lucio Gutierrez was elected in a fair vote two years ago, he is now carrying out a blatant and unconstitutional power play to pack all of the country’s judicial institutions with political allies. Gutierrez, a former lieutenant colonel who was arrested in 2000 for leading a military coup, is making a mockery of the rule of law and judicial independence.

Gutierrez justified the systematic takeover on the grounds that the judiciary had been dominated by a rival political faction intent on impeaching him for alleged violations of campaign finance laws. He has manipulated his party’s modest advantage in the legislature -- 52 of 100 seats -- to replace five of seven members of the Supreme Electoral Council, eight of nine members of the Constitutional Tribunal, and 27 of 31 members of the Supreme Court. The regime is reportedly preparing to similarly take over the offices of the attorney general, the comptroller general and the ombudsman.

To be sure, Ecuador’s politics are precarious at best. The country has suffered a number of constitutional setbacks -- not only the 2000 military coup led by Gutierrez but also a 1997 congressional coup that ousted the former president, Abdala Bucaram, now a fugitive from justice living in Panama. Bucaram, widely known as “El Loco,” now appears to be in cahoots with Gutierrez, orchestrating the thorough dismantling of his country’s democratic institutions from afar. Ecuador has not witnessed such an overwhelming concentration of power, brought about by manifestly unconstitutional means, in a generation.

Gutierrez’s power play coincides with a similarly disturbing move by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to further tighten his grip over his country’s institutions, including the judiciary. On Dec. 13, Chavez -- another former military official who attempted a coup, in 1992, and was later elected president -- packed the Supreme Court with 17 new justices (five to fill recent vacancies).

However, unlike Venezuela -- the fourth-largest oil supplier to the United States and a nation that has the State Department’s attention -- Ecuador is treated with indifference by Washington. This despite Ecuador’s dollar-based economy, a strong indigenous movement, substantial natural gas reserves and the only U.S. military base (technically called a “forward operating location”) in South America.

It is not that the instruments to act are lacking. In fact, just over three years ago the member governments of the Organization of American States endorsed an inter-American democratic charter that was designed to deal precisely with situations such as Ecuador’s. At least when violations took place in the 1990s -- in Haiti, Peru, Guatemala and Paraguay -- there was some public condemnation and political pressure from the highest levels. It is therefore disappointing -- and a clear measure of the hemisphere’s flagging commitment to democracy -- that the subversion of Ecuador’s judicial system has been met with silence and inaction.

How can Washington continue to talk seriously about “moral values” and “promoting democracy” while remaining oblivious to the trampling of the rule of law in a country in our own hemisphere?

Michael Shifter is vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington.