Abdalá Jaime Bucaram Ortiz ( ; ; born 4 February 1952) is an Ecuadorian politician and lawyer who was the 38th

president of Ecuador The president of Ecuador (), officially called the constitutional president of the Republic of Ecuador (), serves as the head of state and head of government of Ecuador. It is the highest political office in the country as the head of the exec ...

from 1996 until his removal from office in 1997. As president, Bucaram was nicknamed "El Loco Que Ama" ("The Madman Who Loves", a nickname he championed). Of Lebanese descent, Bucaram was born in

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

and grew up playing sports where be became a gym teacher where he studied law in the University of Guayaquil. He later became the mayor of the town and began his political career. In 1988 and

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, Bucaram unsuccessfully ran for president, having won in his third attempt in 1996. However, shortly after taking office, Bucaram was critized for his bad attitude towards the press. He was also involved in several cases which eroded public support. Bucaram was subsequently removed from office after being declared mentally unfit to rule by the National Congress on 6 February 1997. Fabián Alarcón, the president of the National Congress, became acting president. However, three days later on 9 February, Bucaram's vice president, Rosalía Arteaga, became president which caused a succession dispute with Alarcón on who should succeed Bucaram and thus, a political crisis. However, two days later on 11 February, Alarcón was reinstated as president with Arteaga retaking her previous role as vice president. Bucaram visited multiple countries in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

in an attempt to gain support to regain the presidency. However, the moved failed and thus, he lived in exile in

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

under political asylum laws, then returned to Ecuador in 2017 when the charges against him expired. He started the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party, named after his brother in law Jaime Roldos.

Personal life

Born in

, Bucaram is the son of Jacobo Bucaram Elmhalin, the son of Lebanese immigrants, and Rina Ortiz Caicedo. Bucaram was the nephew of the politician Assad Bucaram, who was the mayor of Guayaquil. His sister, Martha Bucaram, was married to former President Jaime Roldós Aguilera, both of whom were killed in a mysterious air crash. He lived in Kennedy Norte, a neighborhood next to the José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport, prior to fleeing for Panama after the deposition of his government.

Sporting career

Bucaram grew up playing football in the streets of Guayaquil and later went on to become a successful athlete and earn a degree in physical education. He was also a hurdler. He was the flag bearer for Ecuador at the 1972 Summer Olympics but did not compete in the Games due to injury. He was the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

chief of Guayas and the president of

Barcelona Sporting Club Barcelona Sporting Club (), internationally known as Barcelona de Guayaquil, is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Guayaquil, known best for its professional football team. They currently play in the Ecuadorian Serie A, the highest level of ...

, a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team from his hometown.Abdalá Bucaram Ortiz
(Spanish)

Early political career

While working as a gym teacher, Bucaram earned a law degree and soon began his political career. He became the mayor of Guayaquil, and the founder and member of the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party (PRE). He then competed unsuccessfully for the presidency of Ecuador in 1988 and

. In the 1996 Ecuadorian general election, Bucaram defeated Social Christian Party (PSC) candidate Jaime Nebot by winning in all but one of the 21 provinces, becoming the first to do so.

Presidency

Bucaram was president from 10 August 1996 to 6 February 1997. His cabinet was put together by Vice President Rosalia Arteaga. Shortly after taking office, the press criticized Bucaram for his behavior which was described as flamboyant and sometimes even rude. Within months, Bucaram was accused of embezzling millions of dollars of public funds. He was described as a "messianic personality and unconventional that attracted criticism from his critics and the media" by Anadolu Agency, a Turkish state news agency.

Impeachment

In February 1997, Bucaram was impeached by the National Congress because of concerns about his capacity to act in the office of the presidency. While the initial charge was for mental incapacity, the details of the impeachment specifically cited economic mismanagement, undignified behavior, deliberate oversight of crimes, and betrayal of campaign promises.

Life after impeachment

Bucaram received political asylum in

after several

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

charges were laid against him. He returned on Saturday, 2 April 2005, after the corruption charges were lifted the previous day. He stayed in Guayaquil for about two and a half weeks. The corruption charges against him were reinstated after Lucio Gutiérrez was forced to leave to avoid the charges. On 1 December 2014, Bucaram's son Abdalá "Dalo" Bucarám Jr. renounced his seat in the Ecuadorian National Assembly. On 3 June 2020, Attorney General Diana Salazar Méndez announced that a stock of 5,000 masks and 2,000 COVID-19 tests had been found at Bucaram's residence preventing their use in combatting a large outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was accused of several crimes including stealing from the

Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

and

Customs Customs is an authority or Government agency, agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling International trade, the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out ...

and mismanaging the

and barred from entering the United States. After he took office, Bucaram tried to reorganize the state which led to a culture of bribery and favoritism. In August 2020, Bucaram was arrested and released at his home in Guayaquil as part of an organized crime investigation. The investigation centered on the murder of an Israeli citizen, Tomer Sheinman (also known as Shy Dahan), a few days earlier in the Guayaquil jail. Bucaram was implicated because an audio conversation between Bucaram and the murdered Sheinman (Dahan) was found. Sheinman (Dahan) was involved in trading medical supplies with Bucaram's son, Jacobo. On 9 March 2022, the United States announced that, "due to his involvement in significant corruption, including misappropriation of public funds, accepting bribes, and interfering with public processes," Bucaram would be barred from entering the country. As of December 2023, Bucaram has started to stream his political speeches in the video game

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

on role-play servers, which he streams live on Twitch.tv.

References

External links

Abdalá Bucaram – YouTube

Caida de Abdala Bucaram 5 de Febrero de 1997

AUGE Y CAÍDA DE BUCARAM, EN RESUMEN

CORRUPCIÓN EN ECUADOR: ¡PROHIBIDO OLVIDAR!

Extended biography (in Spanish) by CIDOB Foundation

Official Website of the Ecuadorian Government about the country President's History

Dalo y Gaby Asambleistas, PRE la nueva Era

Biography by CIDOB
(in Spanish) , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bucaram, Abdala 1952 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Ecuador Mayors of Guayaquil Presidents of Ecuador Ecuadorian male hurdlers Ecuadorian police chiefs Ecuadorian sportsperson-politicians Leaders ousted by a coup 20th-century Ecuadorian lawyers Ecuadorian people of Lebanese descent Ecuadorian people of Spanish descent Sportspeople from Guayaquil Ecuadorian Roldosist Party politicians 20th-century Ecuadorian politicians Bucaram family