ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100138
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: QUITO, ECUADOR
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Sunday began with far too many presidents. But by lunch time, Ecuador had put behind it days of political chaos - with three people dueling for the presidency - and found itself ruled by its first female leader in its history.
In a solemn ceremony, Vice President Rosalia Arteaga was invested temporarily with the powers of the presidency. The military endorsed her leadership, bringing calm to Ecuador.
Hundreds of people shouted and waved flags as she appeared on the balcony of the ornate two-story Carondelet Palace.
How long Arteaga will serve remained anyone's guess.
Some said only till Tuesday. Others said it could be for weeks, or months, until Congress designates an interim president to usher the country to elections on Aug. 10, 1998.
Arteaga, a former schoolteacher and newspaper editor, acknowledged that she was taking the reins of the nation amid a crisis ``that put us at the edge of the abyss.'' She noted her ``modest abilities,'' but said she would try to lead ``with courage.''
The dignified ceremony and the humility with which Arteaga, 40, assumed the presidency contrasted with the 6-month tenure of her predecessor, Abdala Bucaram, who was removed by Congress last Thursday for mental incompetence. Known as ``El Loco,'' Bucaram often compared himself to Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi and claimed he was the only leader able to guide his nation.
After a 10-minute speech, Arteaga settled into the palace. Her aides said she wasn't afraid of the ``ghosts'' that prompted Bucaram to live in a hotel suite.
Bucaram remained a wild card. After three days of defying the power of Congress to oust him, Bucaram recognized Sunday that he had been removed from office. He asserted, however, that his ouster was unconstitutional and that poor Ecuadoreans would eventually re-elect him.
``They have carried out a legal outrage!'' said Bucaram, enunciating each syllable of his reference to Congress. ``It is a sure thing that I will win elections in 1998, when all of Ecuador will say, `Bucaram was right!'''
Speaking from his mansion in Guayaquil, in a room filled with trophies, Bucaram said his opponents ``are only united for [my] wake'' and that followers of Arteaga and Congress President Fabian Alarcon would soon be at each others' throats.
``There will be a mess, there will be total disharmony, after 15 days when they divide the spoils,'' he said.
Looking alternately agitated and resigned, Bucaram said he expected his enemies to begin persecuting him and other members of his populist Ecuadorean Roldosista Party.
Political opponents immediately called for his investigation and trial for everything from corruption to possibly treason for offering apologies last month to Peru, with whom Ecuador has engaged in three wars in six decades.
``Asking for forgiveness from Peru was unpardonable,'' said former President Leon Febres-Cordero, who added that Bucaram was in ``a delicate situation.''
Others worried that Bucaram would rally followers to civil disobedience.
``I think he's going to continue to do damage,'' said Luis Macas, a legislator with the Pachakutik-New Nation movement. ``As long as he is in the country, I think he will be an obstacle to the democratic system.''
Macas confirmed that a drive had begun for an inquiry into widespread allegations that Bucaram, his extended family and members of his party enriched themselves with corruption. He said the investigations may lead to criminal charges. ``It is necessary,'' Macas said. ``We can't allow this assault on the assets of the country to have occurred with impunity.''
Macas played a key role in the madhouse series of talks between legislators and army generals that led to approval at about 3 a.m. of a framework for temporary governance and new elections.
Until the framework was approved, Bucaram, Arteaga and Alarcon, the head of Congress, all claimed to be president of Ecuador.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Arteaga. color.by CNB