Ecuador’s Congress has begun reconsidering the financial austerity bill that led to last week’s police uprising in Quito, which resulted in several deaths and the brief captivity of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in a local hospital. The law, which proposed cutting salaries and benefits for public servants in an effort to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit, led to violent rebellion particularly among police and military officers who disputed the reductions.
The president of Ecuador’s Congress, Fernando Cordero, who is also a member of Correa’s Alianza País party, confirmed that his Asamblea would revise the law and in fact increase the wages of certain public officials who protested last week. Policy Minister Doris Soliz echoed Cordero’s statement, and added that President Correa would not disband Congress and rule by decree—a move that he had suggested earlier and is constitutionally permitted.
Cordero praised the reforms but still warned that select government workers would still see their pay adjusted. The salary of police officers would not be affected.
