Soap opera politics revs up in Ecuador.(Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)

QUITO, Ecuador _ Politics in Ecuador has never been a sport for the faint-hearted. Just take the country's congressional battles _ at times fought with fists, pistols and flying cut-glass ashtrays. In one recent debate, a congressman became so enraged at another official that he seized an electric cord and attempted to flog him.

All the more surprising, then, that the man at the center of Ecuador's current political crisis is so private and low-key he's compared to Judge Lance Ito.

But make no mistake about it: Supreme Court President Carlos Solorzano means business.

Last month, he issued an arrest warrant for the vice president on corruption charges _ prompting that gentleman to flee the country.

Now, he's in a showdown with the president. Solorzano is demanding that President Sixto Duran Ballen turn over microfilm detailing secret bank accounts that the vice president allegedly abused.

The political crisis is having grave effects on the young democracy in this nation of 11 million people. Coup rumors …