
Lucio Gutierrez (23 March 1957-) was President of Ecuador from 15 January 2003 to 20 April 2005, succeeding Gustavo Noboa and preceding Alfredo Palacio.
Biography[]
Lucio Gutierrez was born in Quito, Ecuador in 1957, and he rose to the rank of colonel in the Ecuadorian Army. In 2000, thousands of Indian protesters massed in Quito to protest the corruption of President Jamil Mahuad's government, and Gutierrez rejected orders to break up the demonstrations and instead forced Mahuad to step down as President. However, the return of the old government to power led to Gutierrez being expelled from the army and imprisoned for six months. In 2002, he was elected President as the candidate of the Patriotic Society Party, promising to fight corruption and reverse neoliberal economic reforms. However, he broke with his left-wing allies by supporting a free trade agreement, retaining the economic status quo, allying with the Social Christian Party and the United States, and engaging in corruption and nepotism. He packed the courts with political allies, and he was finally forced to stand down on 20 April 2005 following a week of massive demonstrations. He went into exile in Brazil, Peru, America, and Colombia before returning to Ecuador and being imprisoned from October 2005 to March 2006. He failed in his 2009 and 2021 presidential bids, and he instigated a 2010 police revolt against Rafael Correa.