Faced with the police uprising, Correa took the manly route and confronted his opponents. He went to the main Quito police barracks and spoke to the mob of angry cops from a balcony.
"If you want to kill the president," he told them, "here he is. Kill him if you are brave enough. ...If you want to seize the barracks, if you want to leave citizens undefended, if you want to betray the mission of the police force, go ahead. But this government will do what has to be done. This president will not take a step back."
Then he went down to the street into the crowd of angry cops, the press and citizens, walking with a cane because he had just had surgery on his right knee. Hit with the tear gas canister, four men carried him to the nearby hospital, where the standoff began.
"They've got all the hospital exits surrounded. Obviously, it's a kidnapping, when you kidnap the president," Correa said, according to the British Telegraph. Correa said he was ruling the country from the hospital and would not negotiate with those surrounding the building.
"I'd rather die," he said. "I'm getting out of here as president, or feet first. But I'm not going to lose my dignity."
The United States closely follows the events
By early afternoon, as the stand-off developed, numerous Latin American nations, the General Secretary of the United Nations and the Organization of American States had publicly condemned the actions of the National Police. What was missing from a web search was any kind of public word from the Obama administration, especially from the lead figure in this area, Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton.
By 6:30PM, Mrs. Clinton said the US government was "closely following" the events in Ecuador. She declared that "The United States deplores violence and lawlessness and we express our full support for President Rafael Correa and the institutions of democratic government in that country."
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