5Th Presidency Of Velasco Ibar Essay, Research Paper

Dadme un balc n en cada pueblo y yo ser Presidente.

(Jose M. Velasco Ibarra.-)

This quotation is one of the most popular or known internationally. Having origin in a letter sent to Velasco inviting him to intervene in the campaign of someone elections; but making clear that there wasn t any money for the campaign . Velasco s answer was well, but you will give me a balcony. If you give me one, I will triumph. So he did and get five times the Presidency of Ecuador, this show us the power of his oratory, that made move masses (O a, Hombres Notables).

Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra was elected for his 5th and last Presidency that start in September 1st, 1968 which he practice with the constitution of 1967 until June 22nd, 1970; date in which he became dictator and deny the constitution that was ruling on and get valid the one of 1946. The rousing oratory that so easily made him win the elections can be contrasted with his inability to hold office. Velasco govern at the beginning of the petroleum boom (1968-1972); for his campaign, his working plans were to eliminate the humiliate conditions of farmers lives, check periodically the petroleum s contracts, etc. However he wanted to fulfil his working projects for the people. And the oligarchy for sure would precipitated his fall. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra s 5th Presidency suffered a coup d etat because of the declining economic situation and the lack of support from social and military sectors.

The catastrophic economic situation was overwhelming the monetary devaluation. On 1970 the currency suffered an unexpected devaluation from 18 to 25 sucres per dollar. Immediately the impugning and the defenders of the devaluation showed up. There were more opinions against that in favor. The devaluation of the sucre lead to the high cost of the supplies and life. If the authentic taxation reform was applied, and perceiving the incomes without leading or tolerating to avoid taxes, it could be solved the financial crisis, it could be avoid the devaluation. However that demanded that the Financial Minister should be stable and unfortunately this position was one of the most unstable.

In March, the junta Nacional de Planificaci n expressed the financial situation of the Government as a Red Alert!! and it demands radical and immediately solutions (Salvat 8: 28). The overdrawn and the loans with the Central Bank were more continuous, the Governmental salaries were paid late. The situation started to became unmanaged, the cost of life got higher and higher, the President create a decree-law on increasing the value of taxes at 4% on the sales, and charge 9% and 33%on the monetary stabilization. (salvat 8: 28).

Velasco Ibarra s political presence may have inhibited the development of coherent political parties and programs for changing the nation s antiquated social and economic structure. His personal appeal cut across parties and ideologies. Opponents alleged that Velasco Ibarra made economic progress impossible because constructive measures undertaken by previous governments were halted or reversed by his interludes. The environment was filled up with rumors that led some politician leaders to plan out the conformity of a constitutional front. Velasco Ibarra said that to keep peace he will get to all extremes

There were some political changes, however not all of them for the best, such as the four decree-laws that were a surprise for the country, so the political parties and the opposition protested against it. When Velasco became dictator on June 22nd,1970 he had almost all the military support, but not all the social support. The Army tried to solve the crisis, so they gave more power to Velasco; but this didn t work. On February 15th, 1972 Gen. Guillermo Rodriguez Lara overthrew Velasco, and this was called El Carnavalazo.

Another reason that contributed to the Velasco s 5th Presidency overthrown was the lack of social support, a clear example was the Ecuadorians disagreement with the fact that their President became a dictator. Also he censored the press, there was labor unrest, he closed

Guayaquil University, the Eloy Alfaro Military high school and the Central University of Quito on May 29.1968, and thousand of University students went to riots. The FEUS ( Federation of Ecuadorian University Students ), was one of the strongest groups that had influence on the Ecuadorians. During the disturbance between students and the army, what was left, was the spreading of blood and the death of many people, because of the high cost of life, which was the most important reason when Velasco closed the University. Students activist such as Milton Reyes, Rosita Paredes, and Rafael Brito Mendoza(President of the school of law in Guayaquil University) died on August 31st,1970. They fought for the cause of getting a better Ecuador and remove the governmental oligarch. A phrase said by Arroyo Rovelly the towns are always more important than the men and even though without of the biggest leaders , this shows us that they didn t think on how it could be solved in a peaceful way, instead of that, they wanted to get rid of the problems that weren t letting them run the country.

In conclusion, it can be set that Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra s 5th Presidency suffered a coup d etat because of the fiscal crisis without precedents, the struggle that seemed coming with the Supreme Court for some decree-laws, and the relationship between students and military forces that throughout time, was getting more tense. Such circumstance led to frequent disagreements and changes of governmental positions by force. Even though there is a curious fact, that the petroleum in Ecuador made more rich to the rich and more poor to the poor (Navas,197). It can be said that Ecuador passed through a coup d etat recently, one about three years ago and the other is going to be a year and if we analyze that the causes of that, it can be seen that there was lack of support, and a declining economy situation that let to the monetary devaluation and the dollarization, and the unsecured administrative that can be contrasted between Velasco Ibarra and Mahuad.

Works Cited

O a villareal, Humberto. Dr. Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra. [online] Http://www.explored.com.ec/cgi-bin/w3-msql/ecuador/velasco5.htm, Aug. 25, 2000

Navas Jimenez, Mario. Historia del Ecuador. page 197. 1992

Enciclopedia Salvat. Historia del Ecuador. Vol 8, page 26-32. 1980

Bibliography

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