Jaime Roldós
| Jaime Roldós Aguilera | |
|---|---|
 |
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| President of Ecuador | |
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In office August 10, 1979 – May 24, 1981 |
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| Vice President | Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea (1979-1981) |
| Preceded by | Alfredo Poveda |
| Succeeded by | Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 5, 1940 Guayaquil, Ecuador |
| Died | May 24, 1981 (aged 40) Huairapungo Mountain, Celica Canton, Loja Province, Ecuador |
| Political party | Concentration of People's Forces |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Bucaram |
| Alma mater | University of Guayaquil |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Jaime Roldós Aguilera (November 5, 1940 – May 24, 1981) was President of Ecuador from August 10, 1979 until his death on May 24, 1981. In his short tenure, he became known for his firm stance on human rights.
His death in a plane crash has given rise to accusations he was surreptitiously assassinated by the United States government. The Ecuadorian Roldosist Party is named after him.
Roldós was born in Guayaquil on November 5, 1940. He attended high school at the Vicente Rocafuerte National School. He studied law and social sciences at the University of Guayaquil. He was an excellent student and won many awards, medals and scholarships.
At the age of 37, he ran for president on a populist platform. In the first round, he received the greatest number of votes, but not the 50% plus one needed to avoid a runoff. He won the second round of elections against Sixto Durán Ballén, and assumed office on August 10, 1979.
On October 11, 1979, Roldós signed a decree reducing the workweek to 40 hours. On November 1, 1979, he issued another decree doubling the minimum wage, to 4,000 sucres per month. ($160 in 1979 US dollars). On March 8, 1980, he established the National Development Plan. On April 15, 1980, he established a committee of notables to search for a solution for the power struggle in the National Congress, presided over by his former mentor Assad Bucaram.
He named 1981 the "year of advances". In late January and early February 1981, there were border skirmishes with Peru, in the Cordillera del Cóndor. Clashes occurred in the regions of Paquisha, Mayaycu, and Machinatza. With great skill and diplomacy he left the territorial dispute to the arbitration by the Organization of American States.
Roldós's most important accomplishment was his policy in support of human rights, in an era in which most Latin American countries were military dictatorships. In September 1980, Roldós met with the democratically elected presidents of the Andean region (Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru), proposed the signing of a Charter of Conduct, in which the principles of universal justice and human rights were re-affirmed, signaling protection of human rights as a more important principle than non-intervention.
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