The Christmas Basket Coup
I arrived in Quito on the morning of 30 September to what appeared to be a normal day in Ecuador and blissfully unaware of events which were to follow later that day. Sara, our Production Manager, and I had flown out from the UK and we met Mark in Quito as he had flown via New York courtesy of a free BA business class ticket to research potential trade contacts in the US.
As we arrived, President Rafael Correa was being tear-gassed by his own police force. The violence began as a protest by some police against a law scrapping their bonuses and their Christmas basket. 
It must have been literally minutes after we passed through passport control and took a taxi that the airport was seized by 300 air force personnel and military. The KLM plane we had arrived on had already taken on more passengers in Guayaquil before we landed in Quito and was due for a quick turn around before flying back to Amsterdam. It was forced to turn back to the airport after leaving the gate and passengers were stranded in the airport.
I had booked a hotel in the old city, a block from the Presidential Palace. Little did I realise I had booked a ringside seat for the action which was to follow!