Gustavo José Joaquín Noboa Bejarano (21 August 1937 – 16 February 2021) was an Ecuadorian politician. He served as the 42nd

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 ...

from 22 January 2000 to 15 January 2003. Previously he served as the

vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

during

Jamil Mahuad Jorge Jamil Mahuad Witt (born 29 July 1949) is an Ecuadorian lawyer, academic and former politician. He was the 41st president of Ecuador from 10 August 1998, to 21 January 2000. Early life Mahuad was born in Loja, Ecuador. He is of Lebane ...

's government from 1998 until 2000. From 1983 until 1984, he also was the Governor of the province of Guayas.

Political career

Noboa was governor of

Guayas Province Guayas () is a coastal Provinces of Ecuador, province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí Province, Manabí, Santa Elena Province, Ecuador, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos Pr ...

from March 1983 to August 1984. In the 1998 presidential elections he was the running mate of

, who won. He was sworn in as

Vice President of Ecuador The vice president of Ecuador is the second highest political position in Ecuador. In many instances, the vice president succeeded the president in turbulent political situations. The last time was in 2005 after the resignation of president Lucio ...

on 10 August 1998.

Presidency (2000–2003)

On 21 January 2000, a military coup deposed Mahuad's government and the following day Noboa became

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 ...

in constitutional order. Noboa's presidency was marked by attempts to revive the Ecuadorian economy, which was in a recession at the time, including the freeing of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

400 million worth of assets frozen by the previous government. He left office in 2003 after

Lucio Gutiérrez Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbúa (born 23 March 1957 in Quito) served as 43rd President of Ecuador from 15 January 2003 to 20 April 2005. Early life Lucio Gutierrez, in full Lucio Edwin Gutiérrez Borbua, (born 23 March 1957, Quito, Ecuador), ...

was elected president in the 2002

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

. Noboa's presidency became notable for restoring the country's economy.

Controversy

Noboa was accused of mishandling the country's

foreign debt A country's gross external debt (or foreign debt) is the liabilities that are owed to nonresidents by residents. The debtors can be governments, corporations or citizens. External debt may be denominated in domestic or foreign currency. It incl ...

by the former president,

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 ...

. After his term ended, accusations of irregularities in foreign debt negotiation that cost the country $9

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

dollars were levelled at the former president. He completely denied the charges and applied for

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, which was granted on 11 August 2003. The

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

case against him was annulled by an unconstitutional, yet functioning, Supreme Court on the grounds that the case was not initiated by a two-thirds congressional vote as the Constitution stipulates. However, he was placed under house arrest in May 2005 and Ecuador's Interior Minister planned to prosecute. On 16 March 2006, a Supreme Court judge lifted the detention order and charged Noboa with being an accessory after the fact.

Personal life

Noboa was born in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

. He studied political and social sciences and obtained a Doctor in Law from the

University of Guayaquil The University of Guayaquil (Spanish: ''Universidad de Guayaquil''), known colloquially as the ''Estatal'' (i.e., "the State niversity), is a public university in Guayaquil, Guayas Province, Ecuador. Estatal was founded in 1883. It is the old ...

. He was chancellor of the University from 1986 until 1996 and also taught law there. He was 83. Noboa died on 16 February 2021 after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

while in recovery from surgery for a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

Jackson Memorial Hospital Jackson Memorial Hospital (also known as "Jackson" or abbreviated "MJMH") is a non-profit, tertiary care hospital, the primary teaching hospital of the University of Miami's School of Medicine, and the largest hospital in the United States with 1,5 ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

References

External links

Biography by CIDOB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noboa, Gustavo 1937 births 2021 deaths Presidents of Ecuador Vice presidents of Ecuador Governors of Guayas Province People from Guayaquil Christian Democratic Union (Ecuador) politicians Ecuadorian politicians convicted of crimes Heads of government who were later imprisoned Deaths from cancer in Florida