Rodriguez Lara, Guillermo

Rodríguez Lara, Guillermo 

Born Nov. 5, 1923, in Pujili, Cotopaxi Province. Ecuadorian military and state figure; general.

A professional soldier, Rodríguez taught at an air force school, at higher military, military engineering, and command schools, and at a military academy. From 1969 to 1971 he was head of the Eloy Alfaro Military School. Rodríguez served as commander of ground forces in 1971 and early 1972; in February 1972 he became president of Ecuador after a military coup d’etat.

The Rodríguez government followed a policy of strengthening Ecuadorian national sovereignty and protecting the country’s resources. It limited the activities of foreign monopolies in the oil industry. The government built up the state sector of the economy, carried out certain socioeconomic and other reforms, and strengthened Ecuador’s ties with the USSR and other socialist countries.

Rodríguez retired from both government and military service in 1976.