The Conservative Party ( es, Partido Conservador, abbreviated as ''PC'') was an
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
ian
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
party formed in 1869. Initially associated with the
military of Ecuador
The Ecuadorian Armed Forces ( es, Fuerzas Armadas del Ecuador) is the national military force of Ecuador. The commander-in-chief is the President of Ecuador, currently Guillermo Lasso. The military is generally under civilian control, specifica ...
the PC became one of the two great parties of state in the country, alternating in power with the
Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party
The Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Radical Ecuatoriano, abbreviated as ''PLRE'') was a liberal party in Ecuador and is one of the oldest existing political parties in Ecuador.
History
The party evolved out of divisions be ...
. Its traditional support basis has been amongst the landowning classes, as well as merchants and artisans and it tended to favour a unitary structure rather than
federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
.Phil Gunson, Andrew Thompson & Greg Chamberlain, ''The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America'', London: Routledge, 1990, p. 79
Development
The PC was formed by
Gabriel García Moreno
Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García Moreno y Morán de Butrón (24 December 1821 – 6 August 1875), was an Ecuadorian politician and aristocrat who twice served as President of Ecuador (1861–65 and 1869–75) and was assassinated d ...
to be the party of state during one of his spells as
President of Ecuador
The president of Ecuador ( es, Presidente del Ecuador), officially called the Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador ( es, Presidente Constitucional de la República del Ecuador), serves as both the head of state and head of govern ...
. The party would then divide the Presidency with the Liberals until the 1895 coup that brought the reformer
Eloy Alfaro
José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (25 June 1842 – 28 January 1912) often referred to as "The Old Warrior," was an Ecuadorian politician who served as the President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. Eloy Alfaro emerged as the leader ...
to power, whilst the 1925 coup that ousted
Gonzalo Córdova
Gonzalo Segundo Córdova y Rivera (15 July 1863 – 13 April 1928) was President of Ecuador from 1924–1925. Like his immediate predecessors in the Liberal Party, he was considered to be a pawn of "La Argolla" ("the ring"), a plutocracy of c ...
(himself a Liberal) further entrenched reformist hegemony and damaged the PC.Neira, p. 335
The PC was able to regroup however, winning the election in
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
for Neptalí Bonifaz Ascásubi, albeit with the result annulled. Whilst a member of their party was not elected the Conservatives endorsed the victorious
José María Velasco Ibarra
José María Velasco Ibarra (19 March 1893 – 30 March 1979) was an Ecuadorian politician. He became president of Ecuador five times, in 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968–1972, and only in 1952–1956 he complete ...
in
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
and supported him again as part of the alliance to oust
Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río
Carlos Alberto Arroyo del Río (27 November 1893 – 31 October 1969) was President of Ecuador from 1940 to 1944. He was a member of the Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party. During his term, the country lost the 1941 Ecuadorian–Peruvian War.
A ...
after the
Ecuadorian–Peruvian War
The Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, known locally as the War of '41 ( es, link=no, Guerra del 41), was a South American border war fought between 5–31 July 1941. It was the first of three military conflicts between Ecuador and Peru during the 20th ...
and subsequent treaties. They formed part of the very broad-based Democratic Alliance - which included the PC, elements of the Liberals, the
Ecuadorian Socialist Party
Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collect ...
Communist Party of Ecuador
Communist Party of Ecuador (in Spanish: ''Partido Comunista del Ecuador'') is a communist party in Ecuador. It was formed in 1925 as the Socialist Party. The party publishes ''El Pueblo'', the general secretary is Winston Alarcón and the youth w ...
- that emerged after the war and which forced Arroyo del Río out of office.
In
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
they were part of the coalition backing victorious candidate Camilo Ponce Enríquez who assumed the Presidency, although the validity of the result was disputed by opposition groups and his cabinet was dominated by Liberals as a compromise. The PC candidate
Otto Arosemena
Otto Arosemena Gómez (19 July 1925 – 20 April 1984) was List of heads of state of Ecuador, President of Ecuador from 16 November 1966 to 1 September 1968.
Tendencies
Like many traditional political parties in
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
the PC was a broad coalition featuring a number of interest groups. Foremost amongst these was the army which usually worked in close tandem with the PC.
The
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
was the other great influence on the PC and the party sought to represent Catholicism in its most traditional form, to the extent that more radical elements broke away to form the Social Christian Party under Ponce Enríquez. The two groups did subsequently co-operate however. A more radical Christian tendency also existed in the form of the ''Frente Anti-Comunista de Defensa Nacional'' (FADN), an
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
militia group active during the late 1940s.Neira, p. 337 Distinct from the Christian tendency, although active around the same time as the FADN was the ''Alianza Revolucionaria Nacionalista Ecuatoriana'', a tendency inspired by
fascism
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
that sought to directly confront leftists.
Later years
By the 1960s, the PC, along with their Liberal rivals, had faded somewhat from their leading position in Ecuadorian politics. In the 1968 election they backed the unsuccessful candidacy of Ponce Enríquez although he ran as a Social Christian candidate.Gunson et al., ''The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of South America'', p. 80 In the
1978–79 Ecuadorian general election
General elections were held in Ecuador in 1978 and 1979.Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p379 The first round of the presidential election was held on 16 July 1978, with a second round held alongside ...
, they again backed the Social Christian candidate for the presidency, who this time was
Sixto Durán Ballén
Sixto Alfonso Durán-Ballén Cordovez (14 July 1921 – 15 November 2016) was an Ecuadorian political figure and architect. He served as Mayor of Quito between 1970 and 1978. In 1951, he co-founded a political party, the Social Christian Party. ...
, although the nine seats the party captured in Congress temporarily made them the third largest party in the body.
By the 1980s, both the Conservatives and Liberals were junior partners in the ''Frente de Reconstrucción Nacional'' coalition of
León Febres Cordero
León Esteban Febres-Cordero Ribadeneyra (9 March 1931 – 15 December 2008), known in the Ecuadorian media as LFC or more simply by his composed surname (Febres-Cordero), was the 35th President of Ecuador, serving a four-year term from 10 Augu ...
, which was dominated by the Social Christian Party. The party continues to be an active force amongst its traditional stronghold of the landowners but has suffered due to the departure of
Popular Democracy
: ''Not to be mistaken with Irish or Marxist-Leninist People's Democracy. For the Italian party see Popular Democracy (United Left). For the Ecuatorian party see Christian Democratic Union (Ecuador)''
Popular democracy is a notion of direct demo ...
and the introduction of
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
1996 Ecuadorian general election
General elections were held in Ecuador on 19 May 1996, with a second round of the presidential elections on 7 July. Dieter Nohlen (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p379 Although Jaime Nebot of the Social Christia ...
, since when they have been subsumed in coalitions.Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p379
In the
2009 Ecuadorian general election
Early general elections were held in Ecuador on 26 April 2009 following the approval of a new constitution in a referendum held on 28 September 2008. President Rafael Correa ran for his first term under the new constitution. The election was in ...
, a remnant of the Conservative Party, known as the Social Conservative Movement of Carchi, won a seat in the National Assembly of Ecuador from
Carchi Province
Carchi () is a province in Ecuador. The capital is Tulcán. The Carchi River rises on the slopes of Chiles volcano and forms the boundary between Colombia and Ecuador near Tulcan. Rumichaca Bridge is the most important land route between Colomb ...