Gutiérrez denounces his ouster as Ecuador's president

QUITO, Ecuador — Ousted President Lucio Gutiérrez said yesterday that his removal from office by Congress violated the constitution and that he never abandoned his post.

Gutiérrez's first public comments in three days came as Ecuador's new government said it would let him leave for political asylum in Brazil but did not say when he could depart. Many outraged Ecuadoreans demanded he be tried for alleged abuse of power and the violent repression of peaceful protests.

In a statement apparently intended for his supporters that was broadcast on Ecuadorean television, Gutiérrez said Wednesday's congressional vote removing him from power was illegal.

"Through an unconstitutional decision, with 62 votes, and without having abandoned the post, they have taken me out of the presidency," Gutiérrez said while holed up in the Brazilian ambassador's residence seeking asylum in Brazil.

Supporters of the former president have echoed Gutiérrez's comments and said they would take his case across Ecuador and to international forums.

The cashiered army colonel, 48, said in the recording he was calling on all members of his Patriotic Society party to get word of his comments out to the public.

Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Antonio Parra said yesterday that the ousted leader could leave soon. But he said it was a "very delicate" matter and "there exists no set time frame for doing it."

Speaking before the Organization of American States in Washington, Ecuadorean delegate Blasco Penaherrera said Gutiérrez's passage out of the country "will be processed in the coming hours."

Dozens of protesters blocked the two main entrances to the embassy residence while 20 riot police stood guard. The protesters blocked traffic and shouted, "Lucio, turn yourself in!"

The political crisis was the latest in a long history of political instability in Ecuador, an oil-rich, mountainous nation of 12.5 million people. Since 1997, three presidents have been driven from office before completing their terms.