wing policies but has alienated many of his supporters among the poor by adopting austere free-market policies. A former army colonel, he was jailed for leading an attempted coup in 2000 and promises to root out the "corrupt oligarchy" he says has run the country for years. Gutierrez denies opposition charges of wanting to assume dictatorial powers and says he asked Congress to fire Supreme Court judges because they were biased against him. He has promised a new system to choose judges which he says will be more democratic. Oil-exporting Ecuador is one of Latin America's most unstable countries and two elected presidents have been toppled amid popular unrest since 1997. --SP 0031 Local Time 2131 GMT
