Otto Arosemena Gómez

Otto Arosemena
Otto Arosemena on Ecuadorian stamp
President of Ecuador
In office 16 November 1966 – 31 August 1968
Preceded by	Clemente Yerovi
Succeeded by	José María Velasco Ibarra
Personal details
Born	19 July 1925 Guayaquil, Ecuador
Died	20 April 1984(1984-04-20) (aged 58) Salinas, Ecuador
Alma mater	University of Guayaquil

Otto Arosemena Gómez (19 July 1925 – 20 April 1984) was President of Ecuador, 16 November 1966 to 1 September 1968.

Arosemena was born in Guayaquil to Luis Alberto Arosemena Tola and Mercedes Gómez Santistevan. He came from a well-known Guayaquil family; his cousin and his cousin's father had both previously served as president. He went to elementary school at San José de los Hermanos Cristianos School and to high school at Salesiano Cristóbal Colón High School and Vicente Rocafuerte High School in Guayaquil. He graduated from the University of Guayaquil in 1955 with a degree in law. He was already involved in public life during his education: in 1951, he was named a member of the Electoral Tribunal of Guayas. Later, he became president of the tribunal.

Beginning in 1954, his political ascendancy was vertiginous. In 1954, he was elected Deputy for Guayas Province in the National Congress; he was reelected in 1956. In 1957 he was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies, in 1960 he was elected Senator and member of the Monetary Board on behalf of Congress, and in 1961 he was named President of the Monetary Board and Vice President of the Senate. He fought against the military junta that in July 1963 had overthrown his cousin, President Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy. In 1965, when the country was facing one of its worst political, social, and economic crises—a result of dictatorial misrule—he founded a new political party in Quito called the Democratic Institutionalist Coalition (Coalición Institucionalista Demócrata, CID). One year later, he was elected Deputy of the Constituent Assembly held by "President" Yerovi Indaburu. The Constituent Assembly elected Arosemena President of Ecuador on 16 November 1966.

Arosemena's ascent to power bolstered the confidence that the country had started to enjoy since the beginning of Yerovi's short administration, so that national and foreign investors brought capital and began important negotiations that led to national development. In an attempt to allay concerns about his being a dangerous leftist (as Velasco's vice president he had expressed warm sympathy for Cuban leader Fidel Castro Ruz and made a much- criticized trip to the Soviet Union), Arosemena named a cabinet that included Liberals and even Conservatives and quickly sent former President Galo Plaza on a goodwill trip to Washington.