Word: quito
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Died. Camilo Ponce Enriquez, 64, former President of Ecuador (1956-60); of a heart attack; in Quito. Ponce, elected as a Conservative with a plurality of only 29%, won liberal support by leveling his country's raging inflation and stabilizing its economy. His administration was followed by a series of coups and military juntas...
...Alvear, the army chief of staff, and his brother-in-law General Alejandro Soils Rosera, head of the national war college. Their muzzy plot−"it must have been brewed before cocktails and executed after," as one foreign diplomat put it−was to surround the national palace in Quito and force the resignation of roly-poly President Rodriguez (known informally to his countrymen as el Bombita, or the little balloon), who has been Ecuador's benign, reformist dictator since leading a successful military coup in 1972. Setting up headquarters in a funeral parlor, the two rebel generals marshaled...
...rebels attacked the 18th century palace. They overwhelmed the 34 members of the palace guard, who wear gold-trimmed blue coats, white breeches and tasseled pillbox hats and are meant mostly for display. Ignoring all the basic rules for carrying out a coup, Gonzalez neglected to close down Quito's airport and take over its radio stations−one of which refused to broadcast his manifesto on the ground that it sounded unbelievable. He also generously allowed Rodriguez's wife and children to leave the palace, thereby giving away one of his few bargaining cards. Early Monday morning...
Motley Mob. In the wake of the attempted coup, a motley mob of Quito citizens ransacked the palace, carrying off rugs, lamps and other portable goodies. Otherwise, there was little popular support for the coup even though Rodriguez's regime has lately been in considerable economic trouble. In the first half of 1974, Ecuador exported $444 million worth of goods, primarily oil from its jungle wells, coffee and bananas. But then hypernationalistic government ministers raised the price of oil 54&#cent; per bbl. above OPEC's price. In protest, the oil companies severely limited production. Although revenues plummeted...
Belatedly bowing to reality, Rodriguez in July fired his Natural Resources Minister and dropped the price of oil 43? per bbl., whereupon the companies began pumping again. Recently the President announced the imposition of a stiff 60% tax on imported luxuries. That drew howls of complaints from shopkeepers in Quito and their customers, but it may be enough to get Ecuador back in the black...