María Alejandra Vicuña Muñoz (born 13 February 1978) is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the

Vice President of Ecuador The vice president of Ecuador is the second highest political position in Ecuador. In many instances, the vice president succeeded the president in turbulent political situations. The last time was in 2005 after the resignation of president Lucio ...

under President Lenin Moreno between January and December 2018, previously as the Housing and Urban Development Minister of Ecuador.

Career

Vicuña was first elected to serve in the National Assembly in 2009, and was re-elected to serve again in 2013. While serving in the National Assembly, she served as vice president of the largest commission relating to the health and wellbeing of Ecuadorean citizens, and was a founding member of the Commission on Education, Science, Technology, and Communication. She was named Minister of Urban Development and Housing by President Lenin Moreno in May 2017. Upon the suspension of Vice President

Jorge Glas Jorge David Glas Espinel (; born 13 September 1969) is an Ecuadorian politician and electrical engineer. He served as Vice President of Ecuador from 24 May 2013 to 13 December 2017. President Lenín Moreno suspended Glas of his official duties ...

, Vicuña was named Acting Vice President until such time that Glas's corruption charges were sorted out.

Vice President of Ecuador

Glas was convicted for corruption in connection to the Odebrecht bribery scandal in December 2017. The National Assembly then elected a new Vice President from a candidate shortlist chosen by President Moreno. On 6 January 2018, Vicuña was formally sworn in as

. She was confirmed after 70 assembly members voted for her to take office, 17 lawmakers voting against the nomination, and 19 abstentions. She was the second woman to ever serve as Vice President of Ecuador, after

Rosalía Arteaga Rosalía Arteaga Serrano (born 5 December 1956) is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the country's first female head of state as acting president for a few days in 1997. Arteaga announced her intention to serve as Secretary-General of the ...

took office in 1996. On December 3, 2018, Vicuña was suspended from her duties as vice president after a corruption scandal. On 4 December 2018, Vicuña announced her desire to resign as vice president. On 11 December 2018,

Otto Sonnenholzner Otto Ramón Sonnenholzner Sper (, locally , ; born 19 March 1983) is an Ecuadorian radio broadcaster, politician, and economist who served as the 50th Vice President of Ecuador from December 2018 to July 2020. Biography Otto was born in Guaya ...

was elected as

after the National Assembly approved him for the position. In 2020 she was sentenced to one year in prison for extorting payments from her political advisors in exchange for continued employment. In 2021, this sentence was increased to two years; in October 2022, the prison sentence was reduced to one year, but she was required to pay restitution within six months.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Vicuna, Maria 1978 births Living people Politicians from Guayaquil Vice presidents of Ecuador PAIS Alliance politicians Women government ministers of Ecuador Ecuadorian feminists Women vice presidents Ecuadorian politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century Ecuadorian women politicians 21st-century Ecuadorian politicians 20th-century Ecuadorian politicians