Guillermo Alberto Santiago Lasso Mendoza is an Ecuadorian businessman, banker and politician who served as the 47th president of Ecuador from 2021 to 2023. He was the country's first conservative president in nearly two decades, marking a shift in the country's electorate.Lasso served as Superminister of Economy during the Jamil Mahuad presidency briefly in 1999. He previously served as Governor of Guayas from 1998 to 1999. In 2003, he briefly served as the Itinerant Ambassador of Ecuador during the Lucio Gutiérrez administration. Aside from his political career, Lasso is also a banker and previously served as CEO of Banco Guayaquil. During the presidency of Rafael Correa, Lasso became a noted critic of his administration.A traditional economic liberal, his public agenda includes classical liberal points such as the defence of the division of powers to limit government and of fundamental rights. He has also expressed opinions in favour of lower taxes and is a free-market advocate. Lasso became involved in presidential politics when he founded the Creating Opportunities Party in 2012. He first ran for president in 2013 where he came in a distant second place behind President Correa. He would later run again in the 2017 election where he advanced to the run-off running against former Vice President Lenín Moreno and narrowly lost the election. In his third presidential campaign in 2021, Lasso narrowly advanced to the April run-off round of the election in February and was later elected.Lasso's presidency was noted for COVID-19 vaccination initiatives and economic relief packages through tax increases on the wealthy and funding with the International Monetary Fund. However, the increase of food and fuel prices, as well as his economic policies, culminated in a series of protests across the country. The government's response raised concerns over human rights abuses, with crackdowns on indigenous protests at the hands of security forces, as well as alleged excessive force against journalists. Lasso's approval rating dropped significantly throughout 2022 and in 2023.In May 2023, the National Assembly officially began a second impeachment proceeding against Lasso. On 17 May, Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by invoking a constitutional measure known as muerte cruzada, triggering the 2023 general election, in which he did not run and was succeeded by Daniel Noboa.
Wikipedia
“We (Ecuador) may be a small territory... but the planet (earth) is also ours.”
Source: Guillermo Lasso (2021) cited in: " Ecuador expands sea life protections around Galapagos https://phys.org/news/2022-01-ecuador-sea-life-galapagos.html" in phys.org, 15 January 2022.
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