Word: velasco
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Years ago, Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, now President of Ecuador, tried to learn accounting in a humble government job. His boss, according to an Ecuador legend, put him in charge of the petty-cash box. "Look," he said. "On this page, the credit side, write down everything that comes in. On the other page, the debit side, write everything that goes...
...first day, young Velasco submitted his report. Two entries caught his boss's eye. They were: "Credit: two nuns came in." "Debit: ten sucres [$4.87]* went...
...Velasco, high-minded and still "impractical," is trying to revive his country, looted for centuries by "practical" rulers. But his view of financing has not changed. Recently, in dire need of money for vital public works, he noted the $6,500,000 which the Central Bank of Ecuador had earmarked to back the country's currency. "It's so simple," he was heard to say. "The money is there. No one is using it. Just take it from one book and put it in another...
...bank's directors resisted, fearing for the currency. They tried to explain to Velasco the financial facts of life. But the President did not share their worries. So the board of directors resigned. The bank got new directors. President Velasco got the money...
This outbreak was exactly what President Velasco had tried to avoid. A leftist, he had, nevertheless, acted with moderation. He believed that Ecuador vitally needed reforms, especially on the great estates where the Indians (the bulk of the population) lived in virtual serfdom. But he knew that too-drastic reforms might provoke conservatives to open reaction. Last week the Assembly was still trying to agree on a constitution. But most Ecuadorians wished that it, too, would quietly go home, and leave to President Velasco the ticklish job of cleaning up Ecuador's economic system...