It was a festive day in Ecuador last September when Charles de Gaulle swooped into Quito to begin a 25-hour state visit, the third stop on his ten-nation tour of Latin America. Enthusiastic crowds thronged the roads, jammed the balconies, and clambered on rooftops to shower the French leader with confetti and cries of "Viva De Gaulle!"
In the National Palace, De Gaulle presented each of the four delighted members of the ruling military junta with one of France's most distinguished medals, the golden sunburst of a "Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor."
When De Gaulle departed, things were definitely...
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