Sixto Durán Ballén
Sixto Durán-Ballén | |
---|---|
37th President of Ecuador | |
In office August 10, 1992 – August 10, 1996 | |
Vice President |
|
Preceded by | Mayor of Quito |
In office August 1, 1970 – February 16, 1978 | |
Preceded by | Jaime del Castillo |
Succeeded by | Álvaro Pérez Intriago |
Personal details | |
Born | Sixto Alfonso Durán-Ballén Cordovez 14 July 1921 Social Christian Party (1951–1991) |
Spouse | |
Children | 8 |
Alma mater | Stevens Institute of Technology University of Wisconsin–Madison Columbia University |
Sixto Alfonso Durán-Ballén Cordovez (July 14, 1921 – November 15, 2016)
Durán-Ballén was elected as
Early life
Durán-Ballén was born on 14 July 1921, in Boston, Massachusetts.[8] He was born while his parents, Sixto Durán-Ballén Romero and Maria Eugenia Cordovéz y Cayzedo, were on a diplomatic mission in the United States.[9]
Ballén studied at San Jose La Salle grammar schools in Guayaquil and in Quito. His secondary schooling was with the Jesuits at San Gabriel high school. Durán-Ballén studied architecture at Columbia University, where he graduated first in his class in 1945.[10][11]
He married Josefina Villalobos in New York in 1945.[12]
Early political career
Durán-Ballén was one of the founders of the
In 1979 he ran as the PSC's presidential candidate, but was defeated by the populist Jaime Roldós Aguilera.[citation needed] In 1984, President Leon Febres-Cordero, appointed Durán-Ballén Minister of Housing, position he held until 1988 when the Social Christian Party chose him to run again for president. However "his heart was not in it" as his youngest daughter of his nine children was going through the rigors of bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy because of leukemia. She died in 1989 at the age of 29.[citation needed]
Presidency (1992-1996)
1992 Ecuadorian presidential election
At the end of 1990 he publicly criticized the direction of the PSC in a public statement. In February 1991 he contested the internal elections for the party leadership, in which the Guayaquil faction (led by Febres-Cordero) succeeded in appointing Jaime Nebot as presidential candidate and national director. Durán-Ballén alleged irregularities in the election of party delegates, to no avail (and despite opinion polls reportedly giving him advantage over Nebot).[14][6]
As a consequence, Durán-Ballén and his supporters left the party to form the more right-wing Republican Union Party. This decision was widely popular as it was seen as breaking with the political establishment, even being compared with Peru’s Alberto Fujimori in the media.[15][16] They subsequently entered into a controversial alliance with the Conservative Party.[17] Eventually, Durán defeated Nebot in the second round of the 1992 presidential election.[18]
Tenure
Durán-Ballén was inaugurated president on 10 August 1992.[1] At age 71, Ballén was the oldest person to have served as president.[12]
During his time as president, he actively pursued structural reform to modernize the Ecuadorian state and cut down wasteful bureaucratic spending.
During his presidency, there was criticism towards Ballén's economic policies.[21] Many analysts agree that all these actions carried out under his economic plan meant the prelude to almost absolute insolvency to which the country would arrive in 1998 with an external debt of 16.4 billion dollars.[20] He also faced harsh criticism when he eliminated the External Credit Committee in 1995 and was accused of abuse and subjection to public indebtedness.[22] In response to the corruption allegations against him, Ballén called for a second popular referendum to allow reforms as per modernization of the state, which were largely rejected.[19]
Ballén faced challenges while attempting to secure the modernization of the Ecuadorian economy from the World Bank.[23] The World Bank insistent on the privatization of public services which resulted in the reduction of jobs, the elimination of alleged subsidies and the profitability of the Ecuadorian state management.[23]
In 1995, Ballén proved to be one of Ecuador's most successful war-time leaders when his determined leadership united a divided country under the theme Ni un paso atras which means "not a single step backwards" during the Cenepa War with Peru.[18] His last years as president, he focused on the resolution of the Cenepa War with President of Peru Alberto Fujimori.[24] The war ended with both nations withdrawing troops on 28 December 1995, a few months before Ballén left office.[25]
On 10 August 1996, Ballén was succeeded by Abdalá Bucaram. Upon leaving office, Ballén was praised by the public opinion, while his economic policies and his involvement in the Cenepa War, caused his presidency to have mixed opinions from scholars.[6]
Post–presidency (1996-2016)
Following his presidency, Ballén was elected deputy for the
In 2005, he wrote an autobiography titled A mi manera... Los años de Carondelet and edited by the publisher of the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. In 2006, he appeared as a candidate for the Andean Parliament for the Christian Democratic Union, but was not elected.[27]
Death
Ballén died in his sleep at his home in Northern Quito on the night of 15 November 2016, from natural causes at the age of 95.[28][29] He is survived by his wife Josefina and their eight children.[28]
His
Legacy
Ballen led Ecuador to a victory in the 1995 conflict with Peru, uniting the country under his famous slogan "ni un paso atrás". Ballen's term in office was also characterized by a continued political stalemate with a Congress led by his former party.[34] It spearheaded many of the corruption allegations against his administration and members of his family, accused of illicit enrichment, in cases such as "Flores y Miel" ("Flowers and Honey").[18] The impeachment of his Vice President Alberto Dahik, for allegedly using public funds illicitly, further weakened his stance. However none of these claims were properly supported and are suspected to have been started by his political adversaries to weaken his legacy.[35]
References
- ^ a b c d "Sixto Durán Ballén será velado en el Salón de la Ciudad del Municipio de Quito". El Comercio.com. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- Washington Post. 16 November 2016. Archived from the originalon 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b c "Tormenta en el partido social cristiano" (in Spanish). Explored.com.ec. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Sixto Durán Ballén, Ecuador President in Border Clash With Peru, Dies at 95". The New York Times.com. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
- ^ "Hace 20 años fue el conflicto del Alto Cenepa" (in Spanish). El Universo.com. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ a b c "Presidente Duran-Ballen atento en su oficina". Expolred.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "El libro que resume la bitácora arquitectónica de Sixto Durán-Ballén". El Comercio.com. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Biography of President Sixto Duran Ballen" (in Spanish). Hipecuador.htm. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ "Former Ecuador President Duran-Ballen Dies at Age 95". The New York Times. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ISBN 9780822974659. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ James Brooke (4 December 1994). "The World; Latin Leaders Speak Gringo". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b c d "President Sixto Duran Ballen". CIDOB.org. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ Morrisson, Christian, ed. (1994), The Political Feasibility of Adjustment in Ecuador and Venezuela, OECD Publications Centre, p. 44
- ISBN 978-0-8047-6537-4.
- ^ Mainwaring and Scully, 1995
- ^ "Ideario y estructura de Union Republicana". Explored.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Partido conservador y unidad republicana mantienen una alianza y no una adhe". Explored.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ a b c "Sixto Durán Ballén". Buscabiografias.com. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ a b Diana Jean Schemo (7 November 1995). "Political and Energy Crises Foil Ecuador's Hopes". The New York Times.com. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b c "1994 Ecuadorian Economic Report". United States Department of State. 16 April 1994. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ "Former Ecuadorian President Sixto Duran Ballen Dead at 95". The Times of India. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "Ecuador and the IMF – Address by Stanley Fischer". IMF.org. 22 May 2000. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ a b Weber, Gabriela (2008). Sobre la Deuda Ilegítima. Quito, Ecuador. pp. 74–84.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Sixto Durán no se arrepiente del 'Ni un paso atrás'". La Republica.ec. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Alto Cenepa War, 1995". Teachwar.com. 4 March 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
- )
- ^ "Sánchez preside el Parlamento Andino" (in Spanish). El Universo. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b "Falleció en Quito el expresidente Sixto Durán Ballén" (in Spanish). El Universo.com. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
- ^ "Former Ecuador President Duran-Ballen Dead at 95". Fox News.com. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "El expresidente Sixto Durán Ballén falleció este martes 15 de noviembre" (in Spanish). El Comercio.com. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "Rafael Correa autoriza a la Cancillería y a Defensa organizar funeral de Estado para Sixto Durán Ballén". El Comercio.com. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "Políticos de varias tendencias reconocen valía de Sixto Durán Ballén" (in Spanish). Ecuavisa.com. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ "Se develó la escultura del arquitecto Sixto Durán-Ballén" (in Spanish). 15 December 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
- ^ "Muere el expresidente de Ecuador Sixto Durán Ballén a los 95 años" (in Spanish). CNN en Español. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
- ^ "Sixto el Maleifico de la corrupcion". Explored.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
External links
- Official Website of the Ecuadorian Government about the country President's History[permanent dead link]
- Biography of Sixto Durán Ballén
- Biography by CIDOB (in Spanish)
- Interview with former president Sixto Durán Ballén on YouTube
- Exclusive interview with Sixto Durán Ballén Archived 19 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine