Ecuador's Congress fired President Lucio Gutierrez this evening after thousands of demonstrators called for the former army colonel to quit for meddling with the nation's top court.
A total of 60 congressmen from the 100-seat chamber voted to fire Gutierrez for "abandoning his post" and named Vice President Alfredo Palacio in his place.
Demonstrators who had played cat and mouse with riot police celebrated and shook hands with security force members after news spread that the former army colonel had become the third president of the Andean nation toppled amid popular unrest since 1997.
The opposition had accused Gutierrez of acting like a dictator by packing the Supreme Court with political allies last December. Street demonstrations erupted in Quito a week ago to protest a Supreme Court decision to drop corruption charges against former president Abdala Bucaram, a key political ally of Gutierrez.
The armed forces, traditional arbiters of power, abandoned Gutierrez, who was once jailed for a coup attempt but was elected in late 2002.
"We have been forced to withdraw support from the president in order to ensure public safety," said the Joint Chiefs of Staff head Gen. Victor Hugo Rosero.
Thousands of Gutierrez supporters armed with machetes and guns had driven on buses into the capital Quito on Wednesday, but were met by crowds of anti-government protesters who tried to block their path downtown.
Plumes of smoke rose over parts of the Andean mountain capital as rival groups of protesters ran riot. Anti-government demonstrators broke into the Congress building, smashing windows and chairs in the chamber.