The Ecuadorean leader called the police revolt, which caused four deaths, injured nearly 200 people and briefly paralyzed this Andean nation, a coup attempt. Not an outlandish claim for a country that had eight presidents in 10 years before Correa won office. ...
[Analysts] said Thursday's tumult appeared instead to be a revolt that spiraled out of control by hundreds of modestly paid police officers protesting cuts in benefits.
This region isn't my strong suit. So I don't have a lot of value to add, here. But this is instructive:
Correa's kindred leftist presidents, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia, even accused the United States of pulling the strings behind the insurrection at an emergency meeting of South American leaders on Friday in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Isn't the futility of trying to figure out why foreigners hate us highlighted by this reaction? We're to believe that we--led by an extremely liberal president and Congress--tried to overthrow a leftist government in a country hardly anyone really thinks much about? Really?
