After Ecuador's military overthrew hard-drinking, leftist President Carlos Julio Arosemena two years ago, the four-man junta that succeeded him quickly embarked on "the unpostponable obligation of carrying out basic reforms." It outlawed the country's 4,000-member Communist Party, adopted the country's first civil service law, cracked down on smuggling, centralized tax collection and tightened export regulations on bananas, Ecuador's biggest cash crop. The reforms were necessary—though not necessarily popular. But when it came to a return to constitutional rule, the junta moved slowly, promising elections some time in 1966. Last week public...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
