Andean Group - 8 February 2005

Ecuador's new supreme court is divided over what to do with exiled former president Abdalá Bucaram. On 3 February at least 14 supreme court magistrates filed a petition with the president of the court, Guillermo Castro, asking him to excuse himself from the review of Bucaram's case. 

The leader of the government-allied Partido Roldosista Ecuatoriano (PRE), Bucaram is currently residing in Panama, and has been charged in Ecuador on two counts of embezzlement. It is likely that Gutiérrez restructured the supreme court to facilitate Bucaram's return in order to shore up the support of the PRE, arguably the second-most important party in congress.

Ramón Rodrí­guez, the first supreme court president following the replacement of 27 of the court's 31 judges in December 2004, resigned in mid January, ostensibly over a lack of transparency over certain appointments within the judiciary, but in reality probably because of his failure to speed up Bucaram's return. This theory was lent credence by the fact his successor, Guillermo Castro, has been a friend of Bucaram since childhood, has close links with the PRE and was Ecuador's attorney general when 'El Loco', as Bucaram is popularly known, was president. 

The magistrates who signed the petition want Castro to absent himself from the review of Bucaram's case. Its status is uncertain due to the fact that his conviction for embezzlement has been overturned but by a judge who was later dismissed for corruption. Their petition clearly ruffled Castro: "If they interfere in justice then what's going to happen is this court will collapse before the cock crows. What they are trying to do is destabilise the supreme court," he said.

• Bucaram asks his followers to be patient 
  On 6 February Abdalá Bucaram told his supporters in both Panama and Ecuador to wait patiently for his return since too much agitation might bring down the government. Speaking to guests at his 53rd birthday, Bucaram insisted that he would return to the country within "the next few months", but stressed the need to act "rationally". During the party Bucaram briefly donned his presidential sash while an indigenous dancer presented him with an autochthonic crown.