RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two demonstrations in favor and against Quito Mayor Jorge Yunda were recorded on Tuesday (10) in the Ecuadorian capital’s historic downtown, after a shameful incident in which one of the opposition councilors threw a glass of water on the Mayor.
The incident occurred when Yunda was delivering a speech recalling the country’s “First Cry of Independence” on August 10, 1809, when suddenly city councilor Fernando Morales took a glass of water and splashed it in the Mayor’s face, asking him to resign.
Morales referred to Yunda’s family as a “family of crooks,” said that the city deserved better than this Mayor and that, like him, “any good Quiteño” would have done the same.
The incident was later spread on social networks, which sparked criticism of Morales’ behavior among some, and a call for Yunda’s resignation among others.
Likewise, the incident took to the streets with opposing groups demonstrating in different parts of the city, where no large police presence was observed as in other past protests.
With shouts of “Yunda out, out” and with city flags in their hands, supporters of the opposition city councilors marched in a large group through some of the city’s streets, interrupting traffic, although no incidents with the police were reported.
These demonstrators gathered outside the Constitutional Court, the highest legal instance, which must decide on the legal imbroglio created by a motion for Yunda’s dismissal, promoted by the opposition city councilors, who proposed Santiago Guarderas as successor, then vice-mayor.
Conversely, Yunda’s supporters gathered in the downtown Plaza del Teatro, calling on the opposition to respect the institutional and legal frameworks, and recalling that the Mayor was elected at the ballot box.
Yunda’s supporters, among them transport unions, cautioned that behind the municipal opposition there are right-wing groups trying to regain control of the Mayor’s Office in the same way as with the former Mayor Mauricio Rodas, who was poorly accepted by citizens.
On July 30, the Court of Justice of the province of Pichincha, of which Quito is the capital, returned Mayor Yunda’s constitutional rights and his office, removed on June 3 by the group of opposition councilors who promoted Deputy Mayor Guarderas.
Last July 19, another Quito court had repealed the precautionary measures requested by Yunda, which was interpreted by the opposition group as a victory, thereby accelerating the process for Guarderas to assume the Mayor’s office.
The intricate municipal soap opera, which today included Morales’ assault, awaits judicial definition, which, according to several legal specialists, has apparently found a legal vacuum to settle the dispute.