QUITO, Ecuador (AP) -- Ecuador's government seized television stations and nearly 200 other businesses Tuesday for debts stemming from bank failures in the 1990s. The economy minister resigned hours after the takeover

A state agency that protects depositors in failed banks took over the offices of TC Television and Gamavision in early-morning raids backed by dozens of police.

It also took over dozens of other properties of Grupo Isaias, including insurance, agriculture, construction and real estate businesses allegedly linked to bankers facing embezzlement charges who fled to the United States.

Representatives of the stations called the seizures an attack on freedom of the press, though other stations that were not taken over have been more critical of leftist President Rafael Correa.

Incoming Economy Minister Wilma Salgado confirmed the Cabinet shake-up in an interview with The Associated Press, but said she did not know why outgoing minister Fausto Ortiz had resigned. Ortiz himself could not be reached for comment.

Jose Toledo, TC Television's vice president for news, said Ortiz resigned because he opposed the takeovers by the Deposit Guarantee Agency, which he oversaw.

The deposit agency's manager, Carlos Bravo, insisted at a news conference that the government was not persecuting the press and said he hoped the seized stations would be returned to private ownership "as soon as possible."
He said Correa was not even informed of the decision to take over the stations until Monday night.

But state television president Enrique Arosemena, who was placed in charge of the seized stations, said they "are going to have a new editorial line, like all channels have, depending on their administrators."

The deposit agency issued a statement calling the takeover long overdue and saying it "reawakens the hopes of hundreds of citizens who never got back the money they lost with Filanbanco's bankruptcy."

Ecuador is asking the United States to extradite former bankers William and Roberto Isaias, who are charged with embezzlement in the collapse of Filanbanco, one of 21 banks that failed in a crisis at the end of the 1990s. Officials estimated losses of $661 million for Filanbanco alone.

The two television stations are operated by relatives of the fugitive bankers, though they deny any business links to them.

Gamavision president Alvaro Dassum, a cousin of the two bankers, issued a statement Tuesday insisting that "Gamavision has nothing to do with Filanbanco."

"I protest and reject this arbitrary seizure," he said, calling it "a crude attack against freedom of expression and free enterprise."

TC Television's director general, Jorge Kronfle, issued a weekend statement responding to rumors a seizure was imminent. He warned Correa that a takeover "would not only attack freedom of the press in Ecuador but would also gravely affect the image of his government on the international level."

He said that while the station is owned by the fugitive bankers' brother Estefano, the business has nothing to do with them.

The deposit agency said that businesses would continue to operate under temporary, government-appointed administrators.