Alarms & Excursions

Last year Ecuador's freely elected Constituent Assembly chose a popular New Dealing President, tall, professorial Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra. But when the Assembly turned to its second task, framing a new constitution, it produced a national crisis. A strong left bloc in the Assembly led by Communist Pedro Saad proposed to change Ecuador's highly feudal economy into a socialist state.

Thoroughly alarmed, the conservatives struck back. Army and judiciary heads attacked the Assembly. So did a mob, presumably inspired by conservatives, which charged through the streets of Quito shouting: "Down with the Communists!" The crowd came near to killing Comrade Saad. He was saved when a leftist mob engaged the conservatives in a free-for-all in front of the Presidential palace. At the height of this political disagreement, President Velasco stepped out on a balcony, talked his volatile countrymen into breaking off their bout and going home.

This outbreak was exactly what President Velasco had tried to avoid. A leftist, he had, nevertheless, acted with moderation. He believed that Ecuador vitally needed reforms, especially on the great estates where the Indians (the bulk of the population) lived in virtual serfdom. But he knew that too-drastic reforms might provoke conservatives to open reaction. Last week the Assembly was still trying to agree on a constitution. But most Ecuadorians wished that it, too, would quietly go home, and leave to President Velasco the ticklish job of cleaning up Ecuador's economic system.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.