and another one bites the dust

Ecuadoreans oust another neoliberal ruler.

President Lucio Gutiérrez of Ecuador abandoned his office
today in the face of potent protests, and the Ecuadorean Congress swore in Vice
President Alfredo Palacio to replace him. Mr. Gutiérrez became the third
president since 1997 to be ousted in the small but oil-rich Andean country,
which has close economic ties to the United States.