The Inca Empire, which had conquered the modern territory of Ecuador less than 100 years before the arrival of the Spaniards, fell to the conquistadores in 1532. In 1563, this area was made a royal audiencia of Spain with its seat at Quito. It was later incorporated into the Viceroyalty of New Granada. After the War of Independence ended in 1822, Simon Bolivar joined Ecuador with the Republic of Greater Colombia, but in 1830 Ecuador seceded and became a separate republic. The 19th century was a period of political instability, and Ecuador's first 95 years as a republic were marked by a succession of 40 presidents, dictators, and juntas.
The years 1925 through 1948 were even more troubled. No president completed his term of office; during this 23-year period Ecuador had 22 presidents or chiefs of state. Stability was reestablished when Galo Plaza Lasso (subsequently Secretary General of the Organization of American States), was elected president in free elections in 1948, and completed his constitutional 4-year term. Plaza's accomplishment was repeated by Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra (1952-56) and Camilo Ponce (1956-60).
Velasco Ibarra won the presidential elections again in 1960 but was forced out of office in 1961 after a period of economic problems and political turbulence. Vice President Carlos Julio Arosemena succeeded him. Less than 2 years later the armed forces ousted President Arosemena and created a four-member junta to replace him.
Nearly 3 years of military rule ended in 1966 with the appointment of an interim civilian president, Clemente Yerovi. Yerovi supervised the election of a Constituent Assembly which named Dr. Otto Arosemena interim constitutional president. When elections were finally held in 1968, the results allowed Velasco to begin his fifth term as president. However, student riots and financial problems quickly undermined his position. In 1970, with the support of the armed forces, Velasco dissolved Congress, and reorganized the Supreme Court. Despite these measures, in early 1972, the military deposed him for a fourth time.
The ensuing regime of Army Gen. Guillermo Rodriguez Lara lasted 4 years before his ouster by other military officers. The new government, led by Adm. Alfredo Poveda, paved the way for the resumption of civilian government in 1979.
Jaime Roldos, a protege of charismatic Guyaquil politician Assad Bucaram, was inaugurated president in 1979, beginning a new era of civilian rule. His brief term in office was marked by sharp conflicts with the Congress and with his former mentor, Bucaram. Roldos, a populist, brought Christian Democrat Osvaldo Hurtado with him as vice president. In May 1981, Roldos died in an airplane crash, and Hurtado ascended to the presidency.
During his 3-year tenure, Hurtado pursued a course of moderate change and economic development marked, at times, by financial difficulties. Devastating flooding caused by the "El Nino" phenomenon did enormous damage to the country's agriculture and roads and sparked considerable social unrest.
The 1984 presidential campaign evolved into a bitter contest between Social Democrat Rodrigo Borja and Social Christian Leon Febres Cordero. The latter won by a narrow margin and began his term in August of that year. Much of Febres Cordero's first year in office was characterized by political wrangling with an opposition-dominated Congress, but by the start of his second year, the president was able to build a fragile congressional majority of his own. The 1986 congressional elections produced another opposition-dominated Congress.
Political Conditions
Ecuador's political parties have historically been small, loose organizations that depended more on populist, often charismatic, leaders than on programs or ideology. Frequent internal splits produced extreme factionalism.
To encourage the development of strong, stable political parties, the constitution places various restrictions on potential candidates. Only candidates affiliated with registered political parties may run for elective office. To be certified, an aspiring party must file a petition signed by a number of unaffiliated citizens equal to at least 1.5% of the number of valid votes cast in the previous national election. The party must then field candidates in at least 10 of the country's provinces, including two of the three most populous.
The 1986 congressional and local elections proved that political fragmentism continues to exist. Sixteen highly diverse parties, including two communist parties, contested the election. Thirteen political parties are currently represented in the Congress. Of these, only two hold more than eight seats.
While the 1984 presidential elections were won by conservative Social Christian Leon Febres Cordero, the 1986 mid-term congressional elections gave a solid majority to the multiparty leftist "Progressive Bloc," which has indicated that it will oppose the president on many issues. The Democratic Left Party, led by unsuccessful presidential candidate Rodrigo Borja, has emerged as the largest opposition party. Immediate past president Osvaldo Hurtado is a prominent opposition spokesman, although he holds no public office of the Popular Democracy Party. President Febres Cordero's Social Christian Party is the clear leader of the government-allied "National Reconstruction Front" Populist parties and independents make up the remainder of the Congress.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, October 1986.