QUITO, Ecuador (AP)— Ecuador was under a state of siege Friday, with the military in charge of public order after rescuing President Rafael Correa from a hospital where he had been surrounded, roughed up and tear gassed by rebellious police.

Correa and his ministers called Thursday's revolt -- in which insurgents also paralyzed the nation with airport shutdowns and highway blockades -- an attempt to overthrow him and not just a simple insurrection over a new law that cuts benefits for public servants.
Other South American presidents quickly showed their support for Correa, rushing to a meeting in Buenos Aires early Friday and condemning what they called a coup attempt and kidnapping of Correa. The U.S. also warned those who threaten Ecuador's democracy that Correa has full U.S. support.
On Friday, Latin American leaders condemned the coup to dethrone Ecuadorean president and threw their support behind President Rafael Correa at an extraordinary meeting of the Presidents of Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in Buenos Aires.
Both Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia alleged Friday that the United States was somehow behind the police rebellion, despite forceful U.S. declarations otherwise.
At least three people -- two police officers and a soldier -- were killed and dozens injured in the clashes, said Irina Cabezas, the vice president of congress. Five soldiers were wounded -- two critically -- in the firefight at the hospital before Correa was removed at top speed in an SUV, according to the military and Red Cross.
Correa was trapped for more than 12 hours in the hospital, where he was being treated for the tear-gassing that nearly asphyxiated him when he tried to reason with angry police officers at a capital barracks. The officers also roughed him up and pelted him with water.
Correa, 47, speaking from the balcony of the Carondelet palace after his dramatic rescue, told hundreds of cheering supporters that Thursday “was the saddest day of my life.” He thanked those who had converged on the hospital Thursday “ready to die to defend democracy” -- his loyalists had hurled stones at mutinous police, who repelled them with tear gas.
The president said 27 of his special forces bodyguards had been injured in the melee and the unrest was not just a pay dispute.
“There were lots of infiltrators, dressed as civilians, and we know where they were from,” the U.S.-trained leftist economist shouted.
In a post-midnight news conference Friday, Correa added: “They wanted deaths, they wanted blood.” He sat in a ceremonial chair and wore the yellow, blue and red presidential sash.
He had blamed his political foes all day, but without naming anyone specifically. His foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, however, pointed the finger at former President Lucio Gutierrez, who co-led the 2000 coup that ousted Jamil Mahuad. In a TV interview, Gutierrez called that accusation “totally false.”
The chief of the national police, Gen. Freddy Martinez, gave Correa his resignation because of Thursday's events, police spokesman Richard Ramirez told The Associated Press.
Dramatic images of the rescue, broadcast by TV stations, showed one helmeted soldier dressed in black and wearing a flak jacket apparently struck by a bullet. He tumbled down a small embankment outside the hospital. The Red Cross said at least one civilian was also wounded.
At the hospital, Correa had vowed to defend his dignity and leave either “as president or as a corpse.” He also negotiated with some of the insurrectionists, but whether any were placated was unclear.
The hospital's director, Cesar Carrion, disputed Correa's claim to have been “practically captive” in the building. He said the president had his security detail and that no armed police were ever let inside.
After troops intervened, Correa was rushed out wearing a gas mask and a helmet. He was in a wheelchair -- he had surgery on his right knee last week.
Photo: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) talks with Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman upon his arrive to an extraordinary UNASUR summit in support of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa in Buenos Aires on October 1, 2010. (Getty Images)
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