On the stage of Quito's gilt-trimmed Sucre Theater last week, a new President put on the blue-red-yellow sash of office. For Camilo Ponce Enriquez, 44, the problems that go with the sash are likely to prove especially burdensome. He is a Conservative in a country that has been politically dominated by Liberals since the revolution of 1895. Only a freakish three-way split among Liberal factions in last June's election made it possible for Ponce to win at all, and even so, he got only 29% of the votes, edging out the runner-up by some 3,000 votes—one-half of i% of...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
