Camilo Ponce EnrÃquez (politician)
Camilo Ponce Enríquez ( born January 1, 1912 in Quito, † September 15, 1976 ) was an Ecuadorian politician. From 1956 to 1960 he was president of his country. He was the central figure in the founding of one of the most important parties of the country, the Social Christian Party of Ecuador.
Background and education
Ponce came from the upper middle- upper class of the capital Quito. His paternal grandfather, Camilo Ponce Ortiz (1829-1900), was minister of the interior of Ecuador (1868 ), Chairman of the Ecuadorian Senate (1887 ) and two-time inferior presidential candidate of the Conservative Party (1887, 1892) have been. Ponce Enríquez attended a Jesuit College and then studied at the Universidad Central del Ecuador, where he received his doctorate in law in 1936. In the early 1940s he undertook in-depth studies in Santiago de Chile. He also acquired a further doctorate in law at the University of Southern California.
Political career 1939-1956
In the 1940s he came to attention in national politics. He was co-founder of the Frente Nacional 1939 (German National Front ), who advocated free elections, and José María Velasco Ibarra for. As a member of the Alianza Democrática Ecuatoriana (Eng. " Ecuadorian Democratic Alliance " ), he took part in the overthrow of President Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río, which became known as the Democratic People's Revolution in the history of Ecuador, the second ( transition ) José María Velasco Ibarra's presidency ushered and led to free elections. Under Velasco Ponce was from 1944 to 1945 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador.
In 1945 he formed his first party, the Partido Nacional Demócrata (German " National Democratic Party " ), and as its organ, the newspaper El Heraldo (Eng. " The Messenger "). He was later found as organs of his political associations and parties and as a result of bans its existing periodicals more newspapers.
Ponce was a member and vice president of the Constituent Assembly of 1946. During the brief presidency of Mariano Suárez Veintimilla in September 1947, he was Minister of Public Works.
After his National Democratic Party had been short-lived, founded Ponce in 1951 together with other young representatives of the upper classes in Quito a new party, the Movimiento Social Cristiano, which as Partido Social Cristiano (German Social - Christian Party), now one of the most influential parties in the country is.
During most of Velasco Ibarra's third presidency (1952-1956) he was inside or government ministers.
Presidency 1956-1960
After heading the list of supported also by Velasco alliance of conservative parties Ponce was elected after his time as Minister of the Interior in 1956, surprisingly the first Conservative for 64 years as president. He filed 29 percent of the vote to come up with a relative majority against his opponent, in particular the main liberal candidate Raul Clemente Huerta, who received less than Ponce barely 3,000 votes, and the populist Carlos Guevara (CFP ) to enforce.
Although his opponents initially feared a return to the clerical- conservative dictatorial style of government, Gabriel García Moreno, Ponce reigned extremely moderate. In retrospect, was his term of office by some even as " Best Liberal government in the 20th century " ( Jorge Salvador Lara ), in which is expressed that he barely made classically conservative policy. This was also due to his narrow election victory and the strong opposition in Parliament.
His presidency has remained mainly by the enormous public construction activity in memory, which also served as a preparation for ultimately canceled 11th Pan-American Conference. Among other things, a modern commercial port was south of the Old Port dam built in the important port city of Guayaquil to the airport of Guayaquil and the sports stadium Estadio Modelo. About the planning phase does not exceed the time came the later addition of Bridge of National Unity, the Guayaquil with Durán and thus connects with the road link to Quito. In Quito, a new parliament building, a new airport terminal and student dormitories were built and the President seat Carondelet Palace, the State Department and the Chapter Hall of the Augustinian convent renovated. Across the country, roads, bridges, schools and military buildings were built.
With these works, which were carried out with an extraordinary compared with previous governments efficiency and were regarded as generally successful as identification governance, Ponce dealt a necessary fundamental reform of the social structures of the country. Agrarian reform in the Andean highlands was omitted, in economic policy, the government reacted only slowly to the emerging after the weakening of the banana boom economic crisis.
To a serious political crisis occurred in May and June 1959, when it first came to public protests in Porto Viejo, in the course of a Navy captain was lynched after a recruit due to responsibility resulting from the object ill-treatment had begun suicide. The riots were suppressed by the military, but had student protests in Guayaquil result, the beginning of June also bloodily what was strongly lowered the prestige of the government.
Re- nominations and withdrawal from politics
Ponce joined the 1960 elections again, but lost Velasco Ibarra, who had become his enemy during the presidency of his supporters and soon began his fourth presidency. After his defeat Ponce traveled to Europe. As Velasco Ibarra was deposed in 1963 by the military, Ponce practiced active opposition to the resulting military dictatorship. Together with the ex-president Galo Plaza Lasso and Isidro Ayora, he supported the appointment of Clemente Yerovi the interim president after the military dictatorship. In 1968 he ran again for the presidency itself, but got behind Velasco Ibarra and Andrés Córdova (CFP ) only the third most votes. After his re- defeat Velasco Ibarra Ponce himself withdrew from politics. When Velasco's fifth presidential 1970 on the " civilian dictatorship " changed, he turned against them as well as against the subsequent military dictatorship of Rodríguez Lara.
He died in 1976 in Quito. He was married and had five children. His son Camilo Enrique Ponce Gangotena was in the 1980 Chairman of the Partido Social Cristiano.
In the province of Azuay a city and the associated Canton are named after him.