Class 7EGB: PRESIDENTS FROM 1980’S TO THE PRESENT - Timeline

Jaime Roldós Aguilera

August 10^th, 1979 – May 24^th, 1981

He belonged to the “Concentración de Fuerzas Populares” political party, and his slogan was: “La fuerza del Cambio” that means the Force of change. His presidential period was very short; he and his wife died in an airplane accident in 1981.He was Abdalá Bucaram’s brother in-law. During his presidential period there was a military war with Peru in the Condor range, called the Paquisha war, this conflict stopped thanks to international intervention.  He supported and defended human rights.

Osvaldo Hurtado

May 24th, 1981 – August, 1984

After Roldós’ death, Hurtado took over power due to he was the former vice president. During his government there was a meaningful deficit, the prices of oil decreased and economic problems due to flooding in several provinces. The “Sucre” depreciated prices of fuels increased, prices of food and public services also increased and salaries froze.   Hurtado applied measurements established by the IMF. There were several riots organized by social movements against these measurements.

León Febres Cordero

August, 1984 – August, 1988

He belonged to the “Frente de Reconstrucción Nacional” political party; his slogan was “Pan, techo y empleo” which means “Food, home and jobs”. This political party was a union of the representatives of the conservator, liberals and “socialcristianos”. His government was aligned with the American president Ronald Reagan which dictated IMF laws and standards, such us depreciation of our currency, freeze wages, rise of fuels and public transport costs. The external debt increased as the poverty levels in popular sectors and the suburbs in the cities (guasmos and tugurios in Spanish).

In 1987 the Taura commandos kidnaped the president, demanding the liberation of the General Frank Vargas Pazzos who was imprisoned despise the fact that he had received political amnesty after declaring himself against the government. During Febres Cordero presidency there weren´t freedom of speech, human right were violated, many people was imprisoned illegally, illegal executions were made, radio stations which were against the government were closed and many people was kidnaped, tortured and killed.  Febres Cordero chased and repressed the subversive group “Alfaro Vive Carajo”. His government was characterized by the illegal tortures, kidnaps, executions and violations.

Rodrigo Borja

August, 1988 – August, 1992

He belonged to the “Izquierda democrática” political party. He respected our constitutional system but he kept the alignments of the IMF. His term was marked by a major national uprising in 1990, with Indian groups demonstrating in favour of such issues as land reform; the uprising and subsequent protests pushed the Ecuadoran government to recognize the land rights of these indigenous groups and address their other concerns. He couldn´t stop inflation. He started an alphabetization campaign and school breakfasts. He also increased salary.  

Sixto Durán Ballén

August, 1992 – August, 1996

He was member of the “Unión Republicana” political party. His government modernize the country with a neoliberal model. He eliminated subsides, increased the cost of fuels, reduced the number of public employees, privatized many companies and decreased inflation. Poverty increased and he renegotiated the external debt. He brought the government budget into balance, reduced trade barriers, brought Ecuador into the World Trade Organization, and encouraged foreign investment. The benefits of his accomplishments, however, were somewhat counterpoise by conflict: in early 1995, the boundary dispute with Peru erupted in a border war, leading to an impasse that persisted until a peace accord was signed on October 26, 1998. The country was left with a terrible crippling war debt.  From the mid-1990s to the early 21st century, Ecuador experienced several years of political upheaval, during which time many individuals served as president.

Abdalá Bucaram

August 10th, 1996 – February 6^th, 1997

He initiated several economic reforms, house planning and education programs which never ran. He became increasingly unpopular because of his erratic and controversial behaviour, and in early 1997 Congress removed him from office and replaced him with Fabián Alarcón Rivera.

Rosalia Arteaga

February 9^th, 1997 – February 11^th, 1997

Fabián Alarcón

February 11^th, 1997 – August, 1998

Jamil Mahuad Witt

August, 1998 – January 21st, 2000

Early in his term, Mahuad was confronted with a serious economic crisis that peaked in 1999. His unpopular austerity measures, implemented to address the crisis, and high rates of inflation resulted in public demonstrations against his leadership. In 2000 Mahuad made perhaps his most unpopular decision—to adopt the U.S. dollar as Ecuador’s currency. This proposal proved to be his ruin, and shortly after that he was removed from the presidency in a coup engineered by indigenous leaders and some members of the military, including Col. Lucio Gutiérrez Borbua.  He signed a peace treaty with Peru which ratified the “Protocolo de Rio de Janeiro” and gave The U.S.A a military base in Manta.  

Gustavo Noboa

January 22nd, 2000 – January 15th, 2003

Noboa followed through with Mahuad’s decision to convert Ecuador’s currency to the dollar, despite the plan’s unpopularity. However, this conversion, as well as a rise in oil prices, helped stabilize the economy in 2001.

Lucio Gutiérrez

January 15th, 2003 – April 20th, 2005

He stood in the 2002 presidential elections and won, taking office in 2003. He made some attempts at economic reform, but he did not have the cooperation of the National Congress and was initially limited in his success. Gutiérrez was removed from office in April 2005 and replaced with Vice Pres. Alfredo Palacio. Leader of the “Sociedad Patriotica” political party, he declared himself the best friend of the president George W. Bush, supported the Colombian plan against Guerrillero groups. Poverty and corruption increased during his government. His presidential period ended with a popular riot lead by the “Forajidos”.

Alfredo Palacios

April 20th, 2005 – January 15th, 2007

He made some fiscal reforms and work to improve electric plants. He improve and control the use of natural resourses.

Rafael Correa

January 15th, 2007 – Current

He was elected president in November 2006 member of the recent created political party “Alianza Pais”, with oil policy, poverty, debt, and relations with the United States as the main campaign problems. Correa, a supporter of populist Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chávez and other left-leaning leaders, strengthened state control over the country’s oil resources, increased spending on social programs, and reduced ties to U.S. development organizations. In early 2008 he broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia after that country’s forces attacked a guerrilla camp inside Ecuador. Correa also received support from the majority of voters for his plan to devise a new constitution to fight long-standing corruption in Ecuador’s National Congress.

A draft constitution was approved by a special Constituent Assembly in July 2008, and more than 60 percent of Ecuadorian voters backed the new constitution in a referendum held in September. When the constitution entered into force in October 2008, the Constituent Assembly assumed the duties of the legislative branch, pending the election of the new National Assembly outlined in the constitution. The new constitution was the 20th since the country gained independence in 1830. He eliminated foreign military bases, offered free education through the college level, social security benefits for unpaid domestic work, and established greater national control over the oil and mining industries.

Correa won another four-year term, receiving more than 50 percent of the vote in the April 2009 presidential elections. In August 2012 Ecuador granted political asylum to Julian Assange, the Australian founder of WikiLeaks.  Correa secured another term as president in February 2013, when he was reelected in a triumph, capturing nearly 58 percent of the popular vote. His most important work has been the investments in health and education, taxes collection and decreasing poverty.