Background
Guillermo Rodríguez Lara was born in Pujilí on 4 November 1923.
Guillermo Rodríguez Lara was born in Pujilí on 4 November 1923.
He graduated from the Quito Military Academy and subsequently enjoyed a normal army career, with a variety of assignments, including several overseas.
By 1971 he was brigadier general and commander- in-chief of the army.
In 1972 General Rodriguez Lara led the army chiefs in overthrowing President José Maria Velasco Ibarra, and assumed the presidency himself.
He headed a reformist military regime, patterned frankly on that of President Juan Velasco Alvarado in Peru. It decreed an agrarian reform and various other measures. It also presided over a very expansive oil boom, which allowed the government carry out a large public works program.
Charges of mismanagement of the oil bonanza, extensive corruption, social discontent, and growing civilian resentment at military rule undermined the Rodriguez Lara regime. The general was finally ousted by his military colleagues in 1976, although several more years were to pass before an elected civilian regime was restored.
