Ecuador: a New Political South America [HH-5-'791 Direction?'
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19791No. 47 by Howard Handelman Ecuador: A New Political South America [HH-5-'791 Direction?' On March 31,1979 thousands of traditionally been among the elections preceding the one recently bereaved Ecuadorians filed through region's least developed nations. completed), a mere 30-55 percent of the streets of Quito's old city to pay Through the early 1970s, the the country's adult population even final homage to Jose Maria Velasco country experienced little managed to register and only 60-80 Ibarra, the man who had dominated industrialization and retained a percent of those registered actually their country's politics for some 40 substantial, impoverished rural voted.5 In the countryside, years. Elected to the presidency on population. participation has been particularly five occasions (1933, 1944, 1952, restricted since cultural and 1960, 19681, Velasco was repeatedly As Table 1 reveals, in 1970, among linguistic considerations have ousted from office by the military or the ten Spanish-speaking nations of isolated much of the Andean Indian forced to resign, completing only South America Ecuador ranked peasantry from the political arena. one full term (1952-1956).A ninth in life expectancy, eighth in Those villagers who have voted powerful orator- he once boasted, literacy, and eighth in urbanization. often have been pressured to follow "give me a balcony and the people Indeed, the Ecuadorian economy the dictates of local political bosses are mine1'- he followed demagogic was so undeveloped prior to the allied with the landed elite and, not campaign promises of fundamental nation's post-1973 petroleum boom infrequently, with the Catholic reform with mediocre performance that, at the close of the past decade, Church. in office and maintenance of the the country had nearly twice as status quo. Eschewing a political many government bureaucrats as An UnrepresentativePolitical party base or an ideologically industrial workers3 System coherent program, Velasco Ibarra Ecuador's low level of political Not surprisingly, the comparatively mobilization has undoubtedly ran purely on the basis of his low level of socioeconomic personality. As a result, Ecuadorian helped spare the country the development was accompanied by politics from 1952-1978 was largely pronounced class conflict that has limited political participation. The marked by the alternation of torn apart nations such as Chile, small size of the nation's middle Argentina, and Uruguay in recent Velasquista populism (nine years), class, the absence of a strong trade military rule (ten years) and years. It has, however, also union movement, the small number contributed to a weak political party transitional civilian presidents of skilled blue- and white-collar lacking a popular mandate (four system and rule by unresponsive workers, and a low literacy rate all elite cliques. Until the current years), hardly a strong record of contributed to a nonparticipatory institutional development2 Though election, the country had failed to political culture. When national few suggested it at the time, establish mass-based, national elections were held, suffrage was parties. Velasco's death - merely weeks restricted to literates-less than half before the final round of Ecuador's the adult population through the Historically, Ecuadorian political recent presidential election- may mid-1950s. Ecuadorian political parties distinguished themselves have symbolized the end of an era in scientist Rafael Quinteros notes that ideologically on the basis of their that nation's politics-an era in the early 1950s, only 28.4 percent stance on church-state relations. dominated by caudillo (strong man) of the nation's adult population "Left" parties- Liberals, rule, weak political parties, voted, a lower proportion than in Socialists-were anticlerical and outdated ideological debates, and Argentina (61.8%), Bolivia (51.4% ), secularist. Parties of the "Rightu- low levels of political legitimacy. Colombia (40.2% 1, Peru (39.2% 1, or Conservatives, Social Christians- The Legacy of Underdevelopment even Paraguay (29.1% 1.4 Indeed, in were generally confessional One of South America's smallest Ecuador's presidential elections held Catholic. By the rnidtwentieth republics, Ecuador has also between 1948-1968 (that is, the five century, however, the church-state Table 1 Socioeconomic Characteristics of Selected South American Nations (circa 1970) Nation Population (000) Annual Popula- Percent Percent Life Expectancy (Rank)* tion Growth Urban Literate --Years (Rank) (Rank) (Rank) (Rank) Uruguay 2,886 (9) 1.3% (10) 79.9% (1 90.5% (2) 68.4 (1) Argentina 24,352 (2) 1.6% (9) 78.9% (2) 91.5% (1) 66.3 (2) Colombia 21 ,I16 (3) 3.2% (3) 57.5% (5) 72.9% (6) 60.6 (6) ECUADOR 6,093 (7) 3.4% (2) 45.7% (8) 69.7% (8) 55.0 (9) Bolivia 4,931 (8) 2.6% (7) 29.3% (10) 39.8% (10) 53.0 (10) 'rankings in all the columns indicate their position within the 10 Spanish-speaking nations of South America. Source: Inter-American Development Bank data and The Statesman's Yearbook: 1970-71. Reprinted in R. Scott (ed.) Latin American Modernization Problems (Urbana, University of Illinois, 1973), p. 15. issue had lost any real significance political parties have been alliances regional loyalties, and political styles in the nation's political life. Thus, of convenience between powerful have had overriding importance. Dr. the old left-right labels now explain factions, in which ideology, Trujillo vividly illustrated this point little about the individual party's programs, or policies have had little to me when he noted that during the orientation toward fundamental importance. 1960s, while still a Conservative socioeconomic issues nor do they Party leader, he served as legal have much relevance to Ecuador's More often than not, aspiring young council to a bank workers union. contemporary political problems. politicians selected their party Once, while representing several affiliation on the basis of their own clerks who had been fired by their While political lore still places the regional origins and family bank during a bitter strike, his court Liberals "to the left" of the background rather than on room adversary, representing the Conservatives and Social Christians. programmatic or ideological criteria. bank, was the leader of the Socialist the laissez-faire Guayaquil financial Prominent contemporary leaders Party. oligarchs who dominate the Liberal such as Deputies Julio C6sar Trujillo Party are actually more (leader of the small but influential Because of the nonprogrammatic, economically conservative than Popular DemocracyIChristian ideologically confusing nature of the much of the Conservative Party's Democratic Union (DPIUDC) and Ecuadorian party system, leading Andean elite. When asked to Rodrigo Borja (leader of the growing political figures change party differentiate themselves from the Democratic Left) originally joined affiliations and interparty alliances opposition, spokesmen for all of the Conservative and Liberal Parties, like discarded sports coats. The Ecuador's major parties- respectively, simply because those current mayor of Quito withdrew Concentration of Popular Forces groups dominated the regions from the progressive, Democratic (CFP), Democratic Left, (highlands and coast, respectively) Left when he failed to secure its Conservatives, Liberals and Social in which the two men lived. Dr. mavoral nomination. and then ran Christians-insist that they are "left Trujillo rose to the secretary successfully as the candidate of the of center" on socioeconomic generalship of the Conservatives right-of-center Liberals. During the issues6 Even the party secretary of (before leaving the party to form a recently concluded presidential the Conservatives (a very new, more progressive alliance) in campaign, the Socialist Party traditionalist group currently led by spite of his deep political differences originally announced its support for a retired right-wing Colonel from with other party leaders. Even while the rightist Social Christian one of the highlands' most feudal serving as the party's national candidate, then withdrew its states) and the secretary of the CID leader, he was barred from speaking backing when he selected a populist (a party closely tied to coastal, big at party meetings in certain Andean running mate. business interests) characterized provinces where local Conservative their orientations in those terms? officials considered him to be "far The failure of Ecuadorian parties to The fact that such ideological self- too radical."* define their position on issues has definitions bear no resemblance to been accompanied by their inability actual party behavior does not mean Attempts to place Ecuadorian to develop a broad organizational that these leaders are consciously parties along an ideological base or to build a mass following deceptive or cynical. Rather, it spectrum have thus been doomed among the peasants and urban poor reflects the fact that, until recently, to failure, since personalities, who have been gradually incorporated into the political The Populist Response leading populist movement. Since system in recent decades. Through much of Latin America the early 1960s, the party has been Consequently, from 1944 until this during the postwar decades, as dominated by Assad Bucaram, the year's election, none of the voting and other forms of mass former mayor of Guayaquil. Born of country's elected presidents were political participation expanded, Lebanese immigrant parents, closely linked to the major political