Democratic Alliance (ADE)

The Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática—ADE), an ad-hoc, wide-ranging political coalition, was formed in 1944 to support exiled populist José María Velasco Ibarra's bid to remove the government of Carlos Alberto Arroyo Del Río (1940–1944). The coalition, led by Francisco Arízaga Luque, brought together socialists, conservatives, independents, and communists, joined only by their shared dissatisfaction with Arroyo del Río. Arroyo had earned the enmity of Ecuadorians by presiding over the nation's disastrous defeat in a war with Peru. In January 1942 Arroyo del Río agreed to the Rio Protocol, whereby Ecuador surrendered 80,000 square miles of territory in Amazonia to Peru. The Democratic Alliance, assisted by elements within the military, overthrew Arroyo del Río in May 1944. Velasco Ibarra returned from exile and claimed the presidency. In May 1964 various conservative groups briefly revitalized the ADE as part of a failed effort to force out the military government of Ramón Castro Jijón (1963–1966).

See alsoEcuador-Peru Boundary Disputes .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

David W. Schodt, Ecuador: An Andean Enigma (1987), provides a summary overview of political economy. John D. Martz, Ecuador: Conflicting Political Culture and the Quest for Progress (1972).

George I. Blanksten, Ecuador: Constitutions and Caudillos (1964), offer accounts of the return of Velasco Ibarra.

Additional Bibliography

Bravo, César Augusto. Historia del Ecuador de la década de 1950 a la década de los 70. Cuenca: Editorial Gráficas Hernández, 1995.

Echeverría, Julio. La democracia bloqueada: Teoría y crisis del sistema político ecuatoriano. Quito: Letras, 1997.

                                        Ronn F. Pineo