Civil war breaks out in Ecuador’s ruling AP as Moreno ousted
Ecuador’s ruling Alianza País (AP), teetering on the edge of internecine internal conflict for several months, has succumbed. The AP national leader- ship committee voted on 31 October to strip President Lenín Moreno of his functions as president of the party and appoint a replacement. A division emerged within the AP shortly after Moreno took office in May and sought to distance himself from his predecessor Rafael Correa (2007-2017). It became a yawning rift when Moreno opted to replace Vice President Jorge Glas, a Correísta, after he was placed in preventive detention in early October on corruption charges. To all intents and purposes the AP is now providing government and opposition and its formal fracture looks imminent.