Leon Febres-Cordero Ribadeneyra

León Esteban Francisco Febres-Cordero Ribadeneyra (Guayaquil, March 9, 1931-Guayaquil, December 15, 2008) was an Ecuadorian mechanical engineer and politician. He was the leader of the Christian Social Party in his country; President of Ecuador between 1984 and 1988; legislator between the years 1970 and 1984, and 2002-2004; member of the Constituent Assembly between 1966 and 1967; senator between the years 1968 and 1970; mayor of Guayaquil in two periods, the first from 1992 to 1996, the year in which he is re-elected and held the position until the year 2000.

Biography

León Febres-Cordero was born in [Guayaquil], his parents were Agustín Febres Cordero Tyler and María Ribadeneyra Aguirre. He was the sixth of seven children (Nicolás, Agustín, Mercedes, Delia, María Auxiliadora and Leonoer).

He was educated at Colegio Salesiano Cristóbal Colón and traveled to the United States at the age of 16, where he completed high school at Charlotte Hall Military Academy and Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. the Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken (New Jersey), in the year 1953.

He held positions as an executive in important companies in the nation, Cervecería Nacional, Empresa Eléctrica de Guayaquil, Industrial Molinera, Sociedad Anónima San Luis, Sociedad Anónima San Alfonso, Cartonería Ecuatoriana, Stationería Nacional and Textile Interamericana de Tejidos. In the activity union ventured into the Guayaquil Chamber of Industries, of which he managed to be president three times between 1974 and 1980, and of the National Federation of Chambers of Industries.

Marriages and offspring

He married in the city of Guayaquil the Peruvian María Eugenia Cordovez Pontón, in-law through his cousin María Febres-Cordero Carbo. Four daughters were born from the marriage:

• María Eugenia Febres-Cordero Cordovez (Guayaquil, 1954). Married in 1973 with Christian Bjarner.
• María Fernanda Febres-Cordero Cordovez (Guayaquil, 1956). Married with Geovanny Orlandini.
• María Liliana Febres-Cordero Cordovez (Guayaquil, 1958). Married with Gonzalo Dassum.
• María Auxiliadora Febres-Cordero Cordovez (Guayaquil, 1960). Married with Rafael García Toral.

After 34 years, the couple divorced in 1988, a few months after the presidential term ended, marrying Cruz María Massuh that same year, a marriage that lasted until the death of Febres Cordero.

Political career

Representation in the legislative function

The Military Junta that governed the country in 1966 was deposed by a group of Ecuadorian notables, who appointed Clemente Yerovi Indaburu as interim president. This, in his short administration, fulfilled the mission that had been entrusted to him: to hold a Constituent Assembly, which met in November 1966, to draft a new constitution. At the age of 35, Febres-Cordero took part as a constituent assemblyman of the legislative body, participating in the drafting of the constitution, which was finally approved on May 25, 1967.

In 1968 he returned to Congress as a Functional Senator as a representative of the productive sectors. Later he was part of the second Congressional Economy and Finance Commission, until Velasco Ibarra declared himself dictator in 1970 and dissolved the Ecuadorian Parliament. and then

Imprisonment

In 1973, when he worked for Bananera Noboa, which belonged to Luis Noboa Naranjo, he was asked to write checks for the government of the president of that time, Guillermo Rodríguez Lara, for 93 days

Return to Congress

In 1978 he joined the Social Christian Party, and was elected deputy for the period between 1979 and 1983.

During his term as a legislator, he questioned public officials several times. The first action of this type on his part occurred in September 1980. On that first occasion, he questioned the then Minister of Finance Rodrigo Paz, for having signed Decree 343 in June, which reforms the import tariff then in force., which was unconstitutional for being contrary to articles 53 and 59. In this action, the House of Representatives did not censure the minister.

He gained notoriety in September 1981 when he led a trial against Carlos Feraud Blum, then President Osvaldo Hurtado's government minister, whom he accused of anomalies in the importation of toys that were destined for the children of the police force. amount of that contract was 6.7 million sucres.

Then there is an interpellation against the Minister of Natural Resources, Eduardo Ortega Gómez. Febres-Cordero raises, together with Hugo Caicedo, a political trial for the administration of oil resources, in the works of the Gulf of Guayaquil and the increase in electricity rates. This action was favorable, giving way to the Chamber of Representatives convicting Minister Ortega, on September 8, 1982. In the same year, he questioned the plan to expropriate land on Santay Island, for finding an overprice of 200 million sucres, which the Comptroller later ruled as affirmative. In this process, he pointed directly to Juan Pablo Moncagatta and John Klein, governor of Guayas and undersecretary of public works, respectively.

Road to the Presidency

During his tenure as a congressman, he maintained a close friendship with who would later be his running mate and presidential candidate, Blasco Peñaherrera Padilla.

In 1982, he gained prominence by filing an embezzlement lawsuit in the sale and purchase of Isla Santay and his subsequent expropriation plan against the then governor of Guayas, Juan Pablo Moncagatta. The State Comptroller found an overprice of more than 200 million sucres, for which arrest warrants were issued against Moncagatta and others involved.

On January 29, 1984, the presidential elections were held, in which 17 presidential binomials were candidates, the Social Christian Party structured the conservative alliance National Reconstruction Front and chose León Febres-Cordero as its candidate to participate in the When the results were proclaimed, it was announced that the pairing made up of Rodrigo Borja and Aquiles Rigaíl from the Democratic Left led these with 28.7% of the vote, while Febres Cordero and Blasco Peñaherrera from the PSC reached second place, thus managing to bid for the second electoral round.

In the second round, on May 6, 1984, thanks to the National Reconstruction Front, a coalition led by the PSC, Febres-Cordero won the elections with 51.54% of the votes, by a difference of three points, obtaining 1,381,709 votes. The pairing Rodrigo Borja Cevallos and Aquilés Rigaíl obtained 1,299,084 votes, 48.46% of the total vote.

Presidency of Ecuador

First months in office

He took office as president for the period 1984-1988 after winning the May 6, 1984 elections, along with his running mate Blasco Peñaherrera Padilla. His campaign slogan was "Bread, roof and employment", and the television debate between him and Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, candidate for the Democratic Left, is remembered for it.

He took office on August 10, 1984, and during the first six months of his presidential term were characterized by confrontation with Parliament. Consistent with the adjustment measures, it did not raise wages and salaries except in a proportion somewhat higher than inflation. He governed with urgent economic decrees, a total of 26, in order to manage public spending, thus turning the exception into a rule of government.

The administration of Febres Cordero maintained a tense relationship with the opposition press, going so far as to order several closures of the media during his tenure.

Works

During his tenure, he completed and delivered the now-defunct building of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in Guayaquil known as "La Licuadora", he contributed 200 million sucres through the Executive Unit for Sports of his government to the construction of the Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo Stadium in Barcelona in the city of Guayaquil, the Ibarra Olympic Stadium in Imbabura, the Reales Tamarindos Stadium in Portoviejo in Manabí for the VI Manabí National Games in 1985, built roads such as Ibarra - San Lorenzo, construction and general repair of roads in the Coast, Sierra, Amazon and Insular Region. During his government, non-oil exports increased, which in 1988 reached 1.8 billion dollars, when two years earlier, prior to the start of his term, they had barely been 600.

León Febres-Cordero and Manuel Félix López during a meeting in 1985.

Contributions to culture

During his administration, the creation of the National Fund for Culture, also known as FONCULTURA, was signed by decree, which was made up of a percentage of 15% of the fund that the Central Bank of Ecuador allocated to cultural projects in general, added to 5% of the annual profits of the Ecuadorian Development Bank, and the annual allocations of the State budget for the execution of the projects that fall within this competence. The National Council of Culture existed for the qualification of cultural projects, and also in contribution to other institutions such as the House of Ecuadorian Culture the destination of a percentage of funds that certain activities generated and were managed by the Central Bank.

Ronald Reagan, León Febres-Cordero, Nancy Reagan and María Eugenia Cordovez in the White House on January 14, 1986.

Public Health Management

During his government, Febres-Cordero executed the construction of the IESS hospitals in Tena and the Civil de Ibarra, the Baca Ortiz Children's Hospital in Quito, as well as health centers and sub-centers in different parts of the country. He promoted the program for free medical care and delivery of medicines to children under five years of age called Megramé 5, which he carried out through the Ministry of Public Health, with the support of his then-wife María Eugenia Cordovez.

Roads

During his government, the construction of the Guayaquil Perimeter Road was promoted. This road corridor was intended to be the surrounding area of the Guayaquil canton in the Guayas province. Daule, was renamed in 2009 to Avenida León Febres-Cordero Ribadeneyra, in posthumous homage, by municipal ordinance of the same canton.

Fight against subversion

In 1983 the subversive activity of the terrorist group Alfaro Vive, ¡Carajo! arose, which in August 1985 kidnapped the banker Nahím Isaías. The President himself directed the military operation to rescue the victim, who died with the kidnappers in conditions that were never fully determined during the aforementioned assault. The "fight against terrorism" became official policy of the regime. Economic adjustment measures helped GDP grow and there was a surplus in 1984 and 1985. But in the second half of 1986 the price of Ecuadorian oil in the international market fell from 27 to 8 dollars, and on March 7, 1986, citing ethical reasons, General Frank Vargas Pazzos rebelled at the Manta airbase and on March 15 at Quito.

The Taurazo

In 1986, the Commander General of the Armed Forces, Frank Vargas Pazzos, accused Luis Piñeiros, Minister of Defense of Febres-Cordero, of overpricing the purchase of a Fokker F-28 plane for TAME. An investigation process began on March 19, 1986, by a Congressional Oversight Commission, on April 24 the commission ruled that there were no irregularities in the purchase of the plane, despite the fact that the State Comptroller General established glosses for 200 million sucres, without establishing those involved in the irregularities.

In 1987, some Air Force commandos close to Vargas kidnapped President Febres-Cordero and his entourage at the Taura Air Base for 12 hours, and negotiated the release of those kidnapped in exchange for the release of General Vargas, prisoner since March 1986 for his acts of rebellion, and also in exchange for the president not taking reprisals against the kidnappers. The mostly opposition Congress took advantage of the situation to request the resignation of the President, a request that was ultimately unsuccessful. The media called this event "El Taurazo".

Final months of his government

In 1988, the regime was weakened by several corruption scandals at the highest levels of the government, the fall in the price of oil, and the interruption of oil exports due to an earthquake, aggravating the economic crisis, and decreasing income by up to 3,000 million dollars. From then on, the government increased public spending and state indebtedness, taking measures that were aimed at promoting the export sector, and financial capital. The economic team disbanded and even the vice president of the republic, Blasco Peñaherrera Padilla, distanced himself from the president. Despite all this, the government did not alter the spending plan for the last year of the administration, as Febres-Cordero wanted to finish the projects he started.

The excessive public spending during the last year of the government, when the economy was in crisis, reflected the adoption of measures classified as populist, ahead of the main ones that marked a trend towards the liberalization of the economy. GDP fell by 6% after the 1987 earthquake, and inflation rose by 85.7%

Scandals

In the government of Febres Cordero there were several complaints of corruption and human rights abuses. Among the cases of corruption are the flight of Joffre Torbay, Secretary of Public Administration, after being accused of the purchase of 350 garbage collection cars from the Mexican company DINA, which left a debt of four billion sucres; complaints of alleged overpricing for the perimeter road and theft of gold earmuffs, paintings and works of art from the Carondelet Palace ^{[citation required]}

Ecuahospital Case

In May 1987, Xavier Neira, Minister of Industry of the Government of Febres-Cordero, is accused of an alleged case of embezzlement in the provision of services with the company Ecuahospital. During the 33 months that the legal process lasted, Neira spent 18 months in Miami. In February 1990 the case was dismissed by Ramiro Larrea, President of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Ran Gazit case

On January 18, 1990, Ramiro Larrea, President of the Supreme Court of Justice, issued a preventive detention order against Febres-Cordero, for delivering $150,000 in December 1986 to the security adviser, the Israeli Ran Gazit, who collaborated in the fight against the guerrillas in Ecuador, was also implicated by Febres-Cordero's son-in-law, Miguel Orellana. The case was definitively dismissed in August 1990 by the fourth chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.

Human Rights Violations

During his government, serious human rights violations occurred^{[citation required]}, especially forced disappearances, which led to an opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against the State Ecuadorian, imposing the obligation to make reparations to the victims and to investigate and punish those who committed such acts. However, supporters of the Febres-Cordero government maintain that some of these accusations were not adequately supported by documented and impartial evidence. He surrounded the Supreme Court of Justice with war tanks, in order to prevent the inauguration of its new president, which according to the Febres-Cordero government was illegal.

Among the cases of violation of human rights recorded during his presidency, one of the best known is the case of the disappearance of the brothers Carlos and Pedro Restrepo Arismendi, and that of torture, rape, and execution extrajudicial arrest of Professor Consuelo Benavides, detained by members of the Ecuadorian Naval Force. For three years, until December 1988, the families did not know the whereabouts of the disappeared, despite repeatedly requesting information from the Ecuadorian authorities. In the same period, the Ecumenical Commission on Human Rights of Ecuador, Amnesty International, and the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances made similar requests to the authorities. The Ecuadorian government at the time did not provide ^{[citation required]} in any of the cases sufficient information to these entities about their whereabouts.

During his attack on the country's crime and insurgency, it is presumed that "death squads" dedicated to punishment and summary executions were created. On May 3, 2008, the Ecuadorian president and opponent of Febres-Cordero, Rafael Correa created a Truth Commission in Quito to investigate the alleged crimes ^{[citation required]} that occurred during the presidency of Febres-Cordero. Despite this, there was controversy around the commission, since its opponents allege that the accusers should also be investigated, especially the ex-guerrillas identified in the country and abroad; as well as others affirm that there should be strong sanctions for those involved.

The Truth Commission created by Correa in 2013 determined that crimes against humanity occurred during the Febres-Cordero government, arguing that there are indications that forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and sexual violence occurred against alleged members of AVC, before which the Prosecutor's Office called several members of the leadership of the Armed Forces of the time and police chiefs to trial.

Ministers of State

Guayaquil City Hall

Candidacy

León Febres-Cordero announced his candidacy for mayor of Guayaquil for the Social Christian Party on February 6, 1992.

First period (1992-1996)

In 1992, he was elected mayor of Guayaquil after winning the municipal elections, taking office as such on August 10, 1992.

His first order was to close the Municipality of Guayaquil for several weeks, which he announced on a 45-minute television channel where he gave an account of the state in which he found the building and the municipal administration. Then he eliminated 2,499 "pipones » of the Municipality, and the Street Cleaning Union, remodeled the municipal building, which it described as a «rat's nest» and began a process of regeneration of the city.

Two months after beginning his term as mayor of Guayaquil, he began the civic-educational campaign called "Now or never: Guayaquil lives for you". This campaign was focused on rescuing civility among Guayaquileños and residents of Guayaquil, in addition to giving the inhabitant an identity with the city. This campaign was agreed through the issuance of a Ministerial Agreement with the then Minister of Education, Dr. Eduardo Peña Triviño, and included as a mandate the mandatory dissemination of the project in the educational establishments of the canton. The image of Juan Pueblo, the work of Virgilio Salinas, was included in the campaign.

Among the works of his management as mayor, the transformation of ornamentation, roads, flyover systems to decongest vehicular traffic, the construction of markets, the legalization of land for 80,000 families in invasions, the regeneration in the Pedro Pablo Gómez, the garbage collection of the city of Guayaquil, which in the 1980s, Guayaquil was called the Calcutta of America had become a focus of dirt and lack of hygiene and, was almost completely devoid of public works undertaken by the municipality. Likewise, he restructured the Municipality of Guayaquil, placing the institution in a modernization process that has served as an example for other Latin American municipal entities. Economically, he practiced the social market economy during his administration.

Second period (1996-2000)

In 1996, he was re-elected as mayor in the municipal elections, obtaining a victory with 86% of the votes. From this new period, he stood out creating large-scale works such as the foundations of the current Malecón 2000, administered no longer as a public work but in a decentralized manner, thus establishing a new and agile administration system that prioritizes public-private partnerships.

Legislature in the National Congress

Among the 3 periods in which Febres-Cordero acted as a legislator, in 2002 he was elected as a deputy of the National Congress, being the congressman with the most votes by the voters. In the arena of the legislative power, he was in charge of several bills and made allegations of corruption to ministers and officials of previous governments, but his absenteeism from Parliament sessions was marked, in which he almost never intervened for health reasons (his arterial hypertension prevented him from traveling at an altitude of more than 2,500 meters from Quito). In 2006 he once again entered the race for a seat in the National Congress, being again elected for the same dignity. In early 2007, the day before he took office as a legislator, he resigned from office due to health problems that no longer allowed him to continue in office, allowing his seat to be occupied by Dimitri Durán of the PSC, who was appointed alternate deputy of him.

Health Problems

Cancer in the bladder

He underwent surgery to treat early bladder cancer. This was the only time he had surgery in Guayaquil.

Open Heart Operation

In 1996, in another surgical procedure, three "by-pass" coronary to treat clogged arteries.

Glaucoma

During 1996, medical problems began in his right eye due to glaucoma. When he was Mayor of Guayaquil, in 1997, the retina of his right eye detached and he underwent three surgeries, and there were recovery problems. On March 30, 2005, he had a severe infection due to glaucoma in his right eye, a displacement of the retina and cataracts, forcing the doctors at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute hospital in Miami to remove his right eyeball, the eye removed it was replaced by a prosthesis, surgically connected to internal nerves and muscles, allowing him mobility.

Carotid surgery

In 1998, he underwent surgery on the left carotid artery, due to ischemia.

Surgery in the leg

In 2007, in Miami, United States, he underwent surgery on his right leg in February for a cardiovascular problem.

Pulmonary Cancer

On December 1, 2008, he underwent tests to determine the progression of his lung cancer, underwent a bronchoscopy, received radiotherapy sessions to burn and reduce the size of the tumors. Febres-Cordero decided to return to Guayaquil, the relatives signed a document exempting the clinic from responsibilities.

Death

In the Metropolitan Cathedral of Guayaquil during the wake guarded by the presidential escort Granaderos de Tarqui, and members of the Armed Forces.

The former president died on Monday, December 15, 2008, victim of a double complication to his lungs due to cancer and emphysema, at the Guayaquil clinic. The coffin was taken to the Parque de la Paz Cemetery, where he was buried.

Funeral

The Funerals were held over three days, from December 15 to 17, 2008, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Guayaquil. The streets surrounding the basilica were closed to vehicular traffic to facilitate the mobilization of pedestrians as well as those attending funeral services. The 3 doors of the Cathedral remained open from seven in the morning until twelve at night to receive a multitude of followers who constantly entered and left the cathedral, accompanied by authorities and personalities who attended the funeral of Febres-Cordero, for three days a national mourning was declared, by presidential decree he received all the honors. At his wake that took place in the Metropolitan Cathedral, masses were held every hour by a dozen priests and priests, bishops, the media gave him live coverage during the entrance and exit of the cathedral. Once the mass for the present body was over, the remains of the former president walked through the streets of Guayaquil, where he was mayor for eight years.

Honors

Decorations and merits

• Gran Collar de la Orden Nacional de San Lorenzodesignated as Grand Master of the Order of highest rank in Ecuador, presided by the President of the Republic of turn.

Tributes

• Busto de León Febres-Cordero, a five-metre-high sculpture made in bronze by the Spanish Victor Ochoa, and delivered by the Municipality of Guayaquil.