Ecuador maintains unrest was an attempted coup

The Ecuadorian government is maintaining that last week Thursday’s incident where police personnel attacked President Rafael Correa and allegedly held him at a hospital for hours was an attempted coup.



The government has said the standoff resulted in the deaths of least four people, two soldiers, a police officer and a university student.



Interior Minister Gustavo Jalkh told the CNN, that the intentions of the police officers involved were clear when the president's attempts to talk drew a violent reaction from a crowd of protesters last Thursday.



The police personnel said they were angered by a new law that would take away their bonuses and reduce their compensation.



President Correa, who was roughed up and hit by tear gas, said the law would do no such thing.



The interior minister repeated the government's earlier assertions that former president Lucio Gutierrez was behind the unrest.



However, Gutierrez has denied any involvement.