(CNN) -- Rogue national police who held Ecuador's president captive for 11 hours last week talked about killing him, according to an audio recording the state-run Andes news agency said were police radio transmissions.
President Rafael Correa has called Thursday's police uprising an attempted coup, a characterization supported Wednesday by Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization of American States. Police had taken to the streets to protest government austerity measures they said would limit bonuses and compensation.
Correa had gone to meet with some of the protesters but was surrounded by a heckling crowd that jostled him and hurled insults. Someone then fired a tear gas canister at Correa and a man was seen on TV video punching the president and trying to yank his gas mask off.
Correa was led away and taken to a hospital, where he was held until the military attacked the police and liberated the president several hours later.
The reported police radio transmissions released by the Andes news outlet late Tuesday night took place while Correa was being held at the hospital. CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio material.
CNN
