Arteaga, Rosalía (1956–)

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Arteaga, Rosalía (1956–)

Rosalía Arteaga was Ecuador's first female president, although she held office only for about twenty-four hours. Abdalá Bucaram's running mate in the 1996 presidential elections, Arteaga later distanced herself from Bucaram. During the convoluted events of February 1997 that ended in Bucaram's removal from office, she was appointed president briefly until power went to Fabian Alarcón, president of congress. Arteaga traces these events in her memoirs, La Presidenta, and shows how Alarcón came to power through illegal means, thanks in part to the machista ideology of the armed forces and to her weakness in congress.

See alsoBucaram, Abdalá; Ecuador: Political Parties.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arteaga, Rosalía. La Presidenta. Guayaquil: Edino, 1997.

Cornejo, Diego, ed. ¡Que se vaya! Crónica el bucaramato. Quito: Edimpres-Hoy, 1997.

Torre, Carlos de la. Populist Seduction in Latin America: The Ecuadorian Experience. Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 2000.

                                     Carlos de la Torre