Santo Domingo, Ecuador: Sympathizers of Seven Council Members Take Municipality Building

According to ElComercio.com supporters of seven council member of La Concordia in Esmeraldas took the municipality building at 5:30 today, Tuesday August 2nd. The mayor, Walter Ocampo was not in the building at the time of the incident, but reported that the protesters stormed the building, broke windows and doors and attacked employees. El Comercio reports that Ocampo and seven council members have been involved in a conflict since February of this year. The conflict stems from a dispute about public administration efficiency. Authorities say Ocampo evicted the council members from their offices, but the members were reinstated by a court order. However, the reinstatement only occurred ‘on paper’ since the members were barred from their offices by supporters of Ocampo. The Municipality Association of Ecuador backs Ocampo and police were sent to the building to prevent violent clashes.Read Article