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fled the presidential palace in the face of a rebellion by Indians backed by the armed forces. Before leaving the President insisted he would not resign, despite the military's request that he do so. The three-person Junta announced late on Friday evening consists of Military Chief General Carlos Mendoza, Indian leader Antonio Vargas and former Supreme Court judge Carlos Solorzano. Mendoza said the junta was neither left nor right, but a "government of the Ecuadorian people." Thousands of protesters surrounded Ecuador's national palace on Friday night, hours after the unpopular president had fled. President Jamil Mahuad, whose destination is unknown, abandoned the palace after refusing a request from the military high command to resign. Earlier in the day protestors, accompanied by the military, occupied the Congressional building and demanded Mahuad's resignation. Military guards stepped aside when hundreds of Indians stormed an empty Congress building and announced that they had created their own "Parliament of the People." After first backing Mahuad, the military later in the day decided to support the protest, saying it was the only way to prevent "a social explosion." Military leaders said 120 officers were involved in the rebellion, along with an undetermined number of troops. The actions by the armed forces seemed more a result of their growing impatience with Mahuad's inability to handle the Indian rebellion, which was part of a month of broader protests. Ecuador's economic woes appear to have led to the unusual Indian uprising. Last year, inflation reached 60 percent, the highest in Latin America, and only one in three in the labor force has full-time work. A vast majority of the nation's four (m)million Indians live in poverty. At an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States in Washington, Ecuador's ambassador, Patricio Vivanco, said Mahuad had abandoned the presidential palace in Quito and taken refuge at a military base in the city. The O-A-S unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the attempt to overthrow the government and expressed full support for Mahuad. South American leaders also lined up in support of Mahuad, issuing statements condemning attempts to oust him. A statement issued by the U-S Embassy in Lima, Peru, urged Ecuador's armed forces and police to uphold Mahuad. The protesters are also upset about Mahuad's plans to scrap Ecuador's currency for the dollar. In becoming the first South American country seeking to adopt the greenback, Ecuador was hoping to curb inflation, bring down interest rates to U-S levels and spur investment to end the country's deep recession. Critics contended that Mahuad's decision to establish the conversion rate at 25-thousand sucres to the dollar would have devastating repercussions for the thousands of Ecuadorians whose savings are in sucres. A year ago, the sucre was valued at seven-thousand to the dollar. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/03662f96e7743ac669ee7abddec93cf2