Ecuador

History

Main article: History of Ecuador

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Advanced indigenous cultures flourished in Ecuador long before the area was conquered by the Inca empire in the 15th century. In 1531, the Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro arrived and defeated the Inca Emperor Atahualpa and his army during the Battle of Cajamarca in 1532. In subsequent years the Spanish colonists became the new elite. The indigenous population was decimated by disease in the first decades of Spanish rule--a time when the natives also were forced into the "encomienda" labor system for Spanish landlords. In 1563, Quito, Ecuador became the seat of a royal "audiencia" (administrative district) of Spain.

Related Topics:
Inca empire - 1531 - Spanish - Conquistadors - Francisco Pizarro - Atahualpa - Battle of Cajamarca - 1532 - Encomienda - Quito, Ecuador

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After nearly 300 years of Spanish colonization, Quito was a city of about 10,000 inhabitants, and it was there on August 10, 1809, that the first cry for independence was heard. After independence forces defeated the royalist army in 1822, Ecuador joined Simon Bolivar's Republic of Gran Colombia, only to become a separate republic in 1830. The 19th century was marked by instability, with a rapid succession of rulers. The conservative Gabriel Garcia Moreno unified the country in the 1860s with the support of the Catholic Church. In the late 1800s, world demand for cocoa tied the economy to commodity exports and led to migrations from the highlands to the agricultural frontier on the coast.

Related Topics:
August 10 - 1809 - 1822 - Simon Bolivar - Republic of Gran Colombia - 1830 - 19th century - Gabriel Garcia Moreno - Catholic Church - Cocoa

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A coastal-based liberal revolution in 1895 under Eloy Alfaro reduced the power of the clergy and opened the way for capitalist development. The end of the cocoa boom produced renewed political instability and a military coup in 1925. The 1930s and 1940s were marked by populist politicians such as five-time President Jose Velasco Ibarra.

Related Topics:
1895 - Eloy Alfaro

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Recession and popular unrest led to a return to populist politics and domestic military interventions in the 1960s, while foreign companies developed oil resources in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In 1972, a nationalist military regime seized power and used the new oil wealth and foreign borrowing to pay for a program of industrialization, land reform, and subsidies for urban consumers. With the oil boom fading, Ecuador returned to democracy in 1979, but by 1982, the government faced an economic crisis, characterized by inflation, budget deficits, a falling currency, mounting debt service, and uncompetitive industries.

Related Topics:
1972 - Democracy - 1979 - Inflation

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Since the return to democracy, Ecuador has had a succession of presidents. Most of these presidents have failed in their "attempts" to better the country mostly due to corruption and an unwillingness of the rulling class to give up their power. Oligarchy is often a popular term around election time in a country like Ecuador where the great majority of the wealth is held in the hands of the few ruling class families and president elects often run on the idea that they will empower the people to overthrow this economic and social inequality. However, once in power, this is seldom remembered as most politicians have exhibited signs of interest more towards money than any other social or economic ideal. In relation to corruption and civil unrest, in April 2005 Ecuador's Congress ousted President Lucio Gutiérrez. The Vice-President, Alfredo Palacio, took his place and is expected to be in power until the next scheduled election. As of September 2005, Ecuador still has no judicial power and is in the process of rewriting documents that will allow the people to elect the highest court members directly through public election rather than have them assigned by the ruling political party.

Related Topics:
Presidents - Oligarchy - 2005 - Lucio Gutiérrez - Alfredo Palacio

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Ecuador is home to a number of important artists of the last century, which include Enrique Tabara (b. 1930), Oswaldo Guayasamín (1919-1999), Eduardo Kingman (1913-1998), Aníbal Villacís, Félix Arauz (b. 1935), Camilo Egas, Manuel Rendón Seminario, and Juan Villafuerte (1945-1977).

Related Topics:
Enrique Tabara - Oswaldo Guayasamín - Eduardo Kingman - Félix Arauz - Juan Villafuerte

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