María Alejandra Vicuña Muñoz (born 13 February 1978) is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the

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 of Ecuador, president in turbulent political situations. The last time was in 2005 after the resignat ...

under

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Lenin Moreno Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of ...

between January and December 2018, previously as the Housing and Urban Development Minister of Ecuador.

Career

Vicuña was first elected to serve in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

in 2009, and was re-elected to serve again in 2013. While serving in the National Assembly, she served as vice president of the largest commission relating to the health and wellbeing of Ecuadorian citizens, and was a founding member of the Commission on Education, Science, Technology, and Communication. She was named Minister of Urban Development and Housing by President

in May 2017. Upon the suspension of Vice President

Jorge Glas Jorge David Glas Espinel (; born 13 September 1969) is an Ecuadorian politician and electrical engineer. He served as Vice President of Ecuador from 24 May 2013 to 13 December 2017. Then Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno suspended Glas of his ...

, Vicuña was named Acting Vice President until a resolution on Glas's corruption charges was made.

Vice President of Ecuador

Glas was convicted of corruption in connection to the

Odebrecht Odebrecht S.A. (), officially known as Novonor, is a Brazilian conglomerate, headquartered in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of diversified businesses in the fields of engineering, construction, chemicals and petrochemicals. The company w ...

bribery scandal in December 2017. The

then elected a new Vice President from a candidate shortlist chosen by President Moreno. On 6 January 2018, Vicuña was formally sworn in as

. She was confirmed after 70 assembly members voted for her to take office, 17 lawmakers voting against the nomination, and 19 abstentions. She was the second woman to ever serve as Vice President of Ecuador, after Rosalía Arteaga took office in 1996. On December 3, 2018, Vicuña was suspended from her duties as vice president after a corruption scandal. On 4 December 2018, Vicuña announced her desire to resign as vice president. On 11 December 2018, Otto Sonnenholzner was elected as

after the National Assembly approved him for the position. In 2020 she was sentenced to one year in prison for

extorting Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded t ...

payments from her political advisors in exchange for continued employment. In 2021, this sentence was increased to two years; in October 2022, the prison sentence was reduced to one year, but she was required to pay

restitution Restitution and unjust enrichment is the field of law relating to gains-based recovery. In contrast with damages (the law of compensation), restitution is a claim or remedy requiring a defendant to give up benefits wrongfully obtained. Liability ...

within six months.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vicuna, Maria 1978 births Living people Politicians from Guayaquil Vice presidents of Ecuador PAIS Alliance politicians Women government ministers of Ecuador Ecuadorian feminists Women vice presidents in South America Ecuadorian politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century Ecuadorian women politicians 20th-century Ecuadorian politicians