QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador's ousted President Lucio Gutierrez said Friday his removal from office by Congress violated the constitution and that he never abandoned his post.
Gutierrez's first public comments in three days came as Ecuador's new government said it would let him leave for political asylum in Brazil but did not say when he could depart. Many outraged Ecuadoreans demanded he be tried for alleged abuse of power and the violent repression of peaceful protests.
In a statement apparently intended for his supporters that was broadcast on Ecuadorean television, Gutierrez said Wednesday's congressional vote removing him from power was illegal.
"Through an unconstitutional decision, with 62 votes, and without having abandoned the post, they have taken me out of the presidency," Gutierrez said while holed up in the Brazilian ambassador's residence seeking asylum in Brazil.
Supporters of the former president have echoed Gutierrez's comments and said they would take his case to towns across Ecuador and to international forums.
The cashiered army colonel, 48, said in the recording he was calling on all members of his Patriotic Society party to get word of his comments out to the public. "I think there has to be justice, respect for democracy, the constitution, and I ask you to make these declarations," he said in the recording.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Antonio Parra said Friday that the ousted leader could leave soon. But he said it was a "very delicate" matter and "there exists no set time frame for doing it."
Speaking before the Organization of American States in Washington, Ecuadorean delegate Blasco Penaherrera said Gutierrez's passage out of the country "will be processed in the coming hours."
Dozens of protesters blocked the two main entrances to the embassy residence while 20 riot police stood guard next to trees festooned with toilet paper. The protesters blocked traffic and shouted, "Lucio, turn yourself in!"
"We want Lucio to stay. He has to be tried, judged and thrown into jail for what he has done. There should be no immunity," Cinthia Andrade, a 40-year-old teacher, said as she waved a small yellow-blue-and-red Ecuadorean flag.
The political crisis was the latest in a long history of political instability in Ecuador, an oil-rich, mountainous nation of 12.5 million people. Since 1997, three presidents have been driven from office in Ecuador before completing their terms.
The government installed a new military high command Friday. A few hours later, the new defense minister, retired Gen. Solon Espinoza, denied rumors of "military insurrections" at several bases commanded by officers loyal to Gutierrez. He spoke in a televised news conference with the new military commanders standing behind him.
Opponents say Gutierrez should be tried for abuse of power, corruption and the repression of peaceful protests.
Newly sworn-in President Alfredo Palacio, who was vice president under Gutierrez, found himself in a difficult position Friday on whether to issue a safe-conduct pass.
If he did not allow Gutierrez to leave, Ecuador would be violating international norms and risk relations with Brazil. But the alternative risked enraging a population fed up with corrupt politicians.
Parra acknowledged as much, saying the Brazilian ambassador's residency was "virtually under siege by a people demanding punishment. The basic problem is that the people of Quito," whose protests brought down Gutierrez, "are disgusted that presidents who are true scoundrels obtain exile."
The outrage extended beyond Gutierrez. Several dozen protesters gathered outside the Government Palace were chanting: "Jail the Congressmen!"
The congressmen who dismissed Gutierrez are even more discredited in public opinion polls than the ex-president. Ecuador's political parties have been ranked as the most corrupt among 62 countries surveyed by Transparency International.
In a sign that congressmen are well aware of the public's disgust, they were planning to convene Tuesday in the coastal city of Guayaquil after rioters damaged their temporary meeting hall and attacked two legislators following Palacio's swearing in.