Guillermo Rodríguez Lara (born 4 November 1924), known as "Bombita", is a former military

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in time ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

who was in power from 15 February 1972 to 11 January 1976. He took courses in C&R&Bn Staff, Irregular Warfare Orientation, and Maintenance Management at the

School of the Americas The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, renamed in the 2001 National Defen ...

in Panama. As commander of the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

, he led a military coup d'etat executed by a navy commander named Jorge Queirolo G. and forced president José María Velasco into exile, to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. During his rule, drilling the country's

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

reserves funded the construction of hospitals, schools, roads (notably, paving the

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

Tulcán :''"Tulcan" is also an alternative spelling of tulchan'' Tulcán () is the capital of the province of Carchi in Ecuador and the seat of Tulcán Canton. The population of the city of Tulcán was 47,359 in the 2001 census and 53,558 in the 2010 ...

road), the

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liq ...

at Esmeraldas, and new equipment for the armed services. The Ecuadorian military removed him from power in 1976.Martz, p. 6

References

External links

Official Website of the Ecuadorian Government about the country President's History
1924 births Living people People from Pujilí Ecuadorian generals Presidents of Ecuador Leaders who took power by coup Leaders ousted by a coup Ecuadorian expatriates in Panama {{Ecuador-mil-bio-stub