19
which increased the temptation to use the "rally around the flag" effect.
Conaghan described Ecuador’s party system as “an extreme multiparty
system,” counting at least 23 legal parties in the 1978-1992 period.
Furthermore, party identification is low among the electorate, and parties
have little impact on policy-making.
56
The Ecuadorian president at the time of
the war, Sixto Durán Ballén, had been elected in 1992 with only 33 percent of
the vote in his third try at the presidency. Facing difficulties at home, the
president received unequivocal nationalist support from the Ecuadorian public
in the conflict with Peru. As one reporter described, "On Friday, students
marched outside the Presidential Palace in Quito, protesting the economic
policy of Ecuador's President, Sixto Durán Ballén. On Monday, after the
weekend of fighting, students marched again outside the palace -- this time to
cheer the President."
57
Durán Ballén took a fairly hard-line stance in the conflict. In a speech he
said, "I said no to retreat because that has always been the road taken in the
164 years of our history as a republic. Each time something like this happened,
people asked Ecuador to retreat. This time we will not retreat."
58
"In response
to the fighting, President Durán Ballén declared a state of emergency and took
56
Catherine M. Conaghan, “Politicians Against Parties: Discord and Disconnection in Ecuador’s
Party System,” in Scott Mainwaring and Timothy R. Scully, eds., Building Democratic
Institutions: Party Systems in Latin America (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995): 434-5.
57
James Brooke, "On Peru Border, Strife Is Yearly Event," New York Times, 1 February 1995, A3
<LexisNexis> 2/3/2004
58
James Brooke, "Thousands of Peruvians Flee Border Fighting," New York Times, 31 January
1995, A10.
Convention