After World
War II, a recovery in the market for agricultural commodities and
the growth of the banana industry helped restore prosperity and
political peace. From 1948-60, three presidents--beginning with Galo
Plaza--were freely elected and completed their terms.
Recession and popular unrest led to a return to populist
politics and domestic military interventions in the 1960s, while
foreign companies developed oil resources in the Ecuadorian
Amazon.
With the oil boom fading, Ecuador returned to democracy
in 1979, but by 1982, the government faced an economic crisis,
characterized by inflation, budget deficits, a falling currency,
mounting debt service, and uncompetitive industries.
In the 1984 elections there was no clear majority in the
national congress, and the Conservative Leon Febres Cordero
became president on a promise of ‘bread, roofs, and jobs’. In
1985 he won a majority in congress when five opposition members
shifted their allegiance to him.
In 1988, Rodrigo Borja of the Democratic Left (ID) party won the
presidency. His government was committed to improving human
rights protection and carried out some reforms, notably an
opening of Ecuador to foreign trade.
The Borja government
concluded an accord leading to the disbanding of the small
terrorist group, "Alfaro Lives." In 1992, Sixto Duran-Ballen
won in his third run for the presidency. His government
succeeded in pushing a limited number of modernization
initiatives through Congress.
The Ecuador's war with Peru
Duran-Ballen's vice president, Alberto Dahik,
was the architect of the administration's economic policies, but
in 1995, Dahik fled the country to avoid prosecution on
corruption charges following a heated political battle with the
opposition. A war with Peru erupted in January-February 1995 in
a small, remote region where the boundary prescribed by the 1942
Rio Protocol was in dispute. Ballen is succeeded by Abdala Bucaram.
He is the worst president ever in the history of this small
nation.
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Cristina Aguilera parents were
born in Ecuador |
|
Corruption
was his trade mark and quite frankly he was an embarrassment for the
entire nation.
A war with Peru erupted in
January-February 1995 in a small, remote region where the boundary
prescribed by the 1942 Rio Protocol was in dispute.
Ballen is succeeded by Abdala Bucaram.
He is the worst president ever in the history of this small nation. Corruption
was his trade mark and quite frankly he was an embarrassment for the
entire nation. continues... |