Ecuadorean Interior Minister Xavier Ledesma has resigned for health reasons after only one month on the job as the government struggles in a dispute over control of the courts. While Ledesma's exit, announced by the government late on Friday, caused little surprise given problems with his eyes which led him to seek treatment in the United States, it came as President Lucio Gutierrez was fighting to keep his governing coalition together. Ledesma only took over the post in February after his predecessor quit due to disagreements with Gutierrez over how to handle a crisis which started when Congress fired the entire Supreme Court last year. Cabinet Chief Oscar Ayerve has been named the sixth interior minister since Gutierrez took office in January 2003. His job could be made difficult by a track record of poor relations with the opposition. Gutierrez has faced defections from his shaky congressional coalition over the Supreme Court issue, which led the United Nations to call for the "rule of law" to be reestablished in Ecuador.
