Issue and opponent: In Ecuador, President Gutierrez’s government was full of corruption. Protesters from various activists targeted President Gutierrez to end his corruption. In 2004, the President dissolved the Supreme Court and then appointed justices who supported himself. In efforts to end the corruption in the capital city of Quito, a series of nonviolent protests were held.
Dilemma Action: The moderator of Radio La Luna, Paco Velasco, announced that people should protest using rolls of toilet paper. The toilet paper symbolized the message of “cleaning up” President Gutierrez’s corruption. On the day of the protest, he received hundreds of calls from journalists to announce the different protests appearing all around the city.
Outcome: Throughout the week that Paco Velasco accepted calls he announced around 200 different protests. Ultimately, President Gutierrez was ousted. This was an engagement protest to the larger campaign. Velasco became a central figure in the leadership of the larger movement to call for ousting the President through peaceful protests. Another action that took place before the toilet paper campaign was a protest organized by the Mayor of Quito Paco Moncayo. The mayor ordered a strike on April 13th, 2005 which shut down public transportation and education and other government buildings. Thousands of residents in Quito participated in the protest.