Quito, July 17 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño will step down temporarily to strengthen the grassroots movement supporting the Alianza PAIS government and Citizen's Revolution, President Rafael Correa announced on Thursday.

Patino's two-month leave from the foreign ministry was requested by President Correa in light of recent destabilization attempts against his government, particularly in Quito. “Note that in Quito, the largest of the opposition demonstrations had 5,000 people, but very aggressive and some 1,200 who wanted to enter Carondelet (Presidential Palace),” President Correa told press. “They could destabilize the government, they could generate violence. We cannot allow that.”

According to Correa, Patiño will focus on organizing from within the Citizen's Revolution to mobilize supporters from the ground up to confront the threat of right-wing destabilization against the government. The announcement comes a day after a poll reaffirmed that over 65 percent of Ecuadoreans in major cities support President Rafael Correa.