During his address to the Ecuadorian people, which constantly chanted they were with him, Correa urged the people to unite

The unity of the Ecuadorian people around the democratic government promoted by the Citizen Revolution (Revolución ciudadana) in Ecuador was decisive for the rescue of President Rafael Correa, kidnapped for some twelve hours by a group of rebel police officers, incited to violence by opposition groups.

This is the first time that the people take to the streets en masse and in an organized way -even risking their personal safety- to defend their president, according to Ecuadorian media outlets. They reported, with immediacy and for the entire world, the difficult hours lived by the head of state at the police hospital

The coup perpetrators attacked him physically and psychologically, so he revoked the Civil Service Law, aimed at organizing the remuneration of police forces in the Andean nation.

After being rescued by the Armed Forces, the President addressed thousands of Ecuadorians gathered in front of the Carondelet Palace, where he confirmed that the conspiracy and the lies and the terrible wrong of trying to stop the Citizen Revolution put the future of the homeland at risk.

Visibly moved, Correa asked for a minute’s silence -a profound and heartfelt one- on behalf of the relatives of the man that was killed and the five persons that were injured -Ecuadorian brothers who fell uselessly, he stated.

Interrupted several times by shouts of “Correa, friend, the people are with you,” the President thanked the thousands of people who went where he was to try to rescue him at the military hospital where he was kidnapped, who were cowardly attacked with pepper and tear gases.

He also thanked his security guard and the officials of his government who were ready to die if necessary, adding that with that courage and loyalty nothing and no one will defeat them.

Likewise, he underlined the support received from different nations in the region and in Latin America, and from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), which held an extraordinary meeting to analyze the crisis created by a reactionary opposition with which they never accepted to negotiate.

Correa narrated that during his meeting with the insurgent police officers he found out that they didn’t know the new Civil Service Law, that they were misled by false, infiltrated police officers at the service of the opposition, who, in an irresponsible way, played with the future of the nation, trying to achieve, by way of conspiracy, what they couldn’t achieve at the polls.

The head of state explained to the Ecuadorian people that the new legislation takes into account the special working conditions of the police, the armed forces, and the firefighters. He referred to the wage situation of a police officer before his government, when after 15 years of service he should receive 800 dollars as a bonus and received only 200, adding that, at present, police officers with the lowest wages earn around 700 dollars.

During his address to the Ecuadorian people, which constantly chanted they were with him, Correa urged the people to unite, to save their homeland, to get on and to build the Citizen Revolution with even more honor.

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