Editing History of Ecuador (section)

===Instability (2000–2007)===

On January 21, 2000, during demonstrations in Quito by indigenous groups, the military and police refused to enforce public order, beginning what became known as the [[2000 Ecuadorean coup d'état]]. Demonstrators entered the National Assembly building and declared, in a move that resembled the [[coups d'état]] endemic to Ecuadorean history, a three-person [[Military dictatorship|junta]] in charge of the country. Field-grade military officers declared their support for the concept. During a night of confusion and failed negotiations, President Mahuad was forced to flee the presidential palace for his own safety. Vice President [[Gustavo Noboa]] took charge by vice-presidential decree; Mahuad went on national television in the morning to endorse Noboa as his successor. The military triumvirate that was effectively running the country also endorsed Noboa. The Ecuadorean Congress then met in an emergency session in Guayaquil on the same day, January 22, and ratified Noboa as President of the Republic in constitutional succession to Mahuad.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ecuador's Congress okays Noboa as new president |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news/ecuadors-congress-okays-noboa-as-new-president |work=The Daily Star |date=24 January 2000 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:20000%2BSucres%2BBill%2BEcuador%2B1999.jpg|thumb|left|alt=The front and back of a 20,000-sucre|In 2000, Ecuador replaced its currency, the sucre, with the US dollar. When the dollar was introduced, this 20,000-sucre bill was worth 80 US cents.]]
The US dollar became the only official currency of Ecuador in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ecuador's one and only official currency is the US Dollar |url=https://peopleplacesandthoughts.com/home/2019/5/24/ecuadors-one-and-only-official-currency-is-the-us-dollar |website=People Places and Thoughts|date=24 May 2019 }}</ref> Although Ecuador began to improve economically in the following months, the government of Noboa came under heavy fire for the continuation of the dollarization policy, its disregard for social problems, and other important issues in Ecuadorean politics.

Retired Colonel [[Lucio Gutiérrez]], a member of the military junta that overthrew Mahuad, was elected president in 2002 <ref>{{cite news  |title=Ex-Coup Leader Is New President of Ecuador |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-25-fg-ecuador25-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=25 November 2002}}</ref> and assumed the presidency on January 15, 2003.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ecuador's new president sworn in |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ecuador-s-new-president-sworn-in-1.345539 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref> Gutierrez's [[January 21 Patriotic Society Party|Patriotic Society Party]] had a small fraction of the seats in Congress and therefore depended on the support of other parties in Congress to pass legislation.

In December 2004, Gutiérrez unconstitutionally dissolved the Supreme Court and appointed new judges to it. This move was generally seen as a kickback to deposed ex-President Abdalá Bucaram, whose political party had sided with Gutiérrez and helped derail attempts to impeach him in late 2004. The new Supreme Court dropped charges of corruption pending against the exiled Bucaram, who soon returned to the politically unstable country. The [[political corruption|corruption]] evident in these maneuvers finally led Quito's middle classes to seek the ousting of Gutiérrez in early 2005. In April 2005, the Ecuadorian Armed Forces declared that it was withdrawing its support for the President. After weeks of public protests, Gutiérrez was overthrown in April.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ecuador Congress ousts president |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/4/21/ecuador-congress-ousts-president |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> Vice President [[Alfredo Palacio]] assumed the presidency and vowed to complete the term of office and hold elections in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=Released former Ecuadorian president vows return |url=https://en.mercopress.com/2006/03/06/released-former-ecuadorian-president-vows-return |work=MercoPress |language=en}}</ref>