Ecuador Handbook

CIA, 1970. — 67 p.Ecuador is neither geographically nor economically an important factor in Western Hemisphere security, nor is it influential in Latin American councils. The country has no significant subversion or terrorism problem that immediately threatens its neighbors. The freely elected government of President Jose Velasco came to power on 1 September 1968. This is the 77-year-old Velasco's fifth attempt to govern Ecuador; on three previous occasions he has been ousted. With the support of military leaders, Velasco assumed dictatorial powers on 22 June 1970 in the face of a persistent financial crisis and continuing student disorders. Congress was closed, the universities shut down, and the 1967 constitution replaced by a modified version of the one adopted in 1946.
Velasco pledged to leave office when his term of office expires in August 1972. Ecuador is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin
America. The country remains basically an agrarian society with agriculture employing about 55 percent of the labor force and accounting for about one third of the gross domestic product. Bananas, coffee, and cocoa provide 85 percent of Ecuador's exports. The newly discovered petroleum fields in
northeastern Ecuador are expected to begin producing in 1973 and should more than meet domestic needs and be a source of foreign exchange. The
sucre was devaluated to 25 to the US dollar in mid-August 1970 in an attempt to balance current account payments.