Alfredo Palacio

Infobox_President | name=Alfredo Palacio


order=President of Ecuador
term_start=April 20, 2005
term_end=January 15, 2007
predecessor=Lucio Gutiérrez
successor=Rafael Correa
birth_date=Birth date and age|1939|1|22|mf=y
birth_place=Guayaquil, Ecuador
dead=
death_date=
death_place=
spouse=María Beatriz Paret
party=No party affiliation
vicepresident=Alejandro Serrano"Not to be confused with the Argentine politician Alfredo Palacios."Luis Alfredo Palacio González (born January 22, 1939) served as President of Ecuador from April 2005 to January 2007. From January 15 2003 to April 20 2005, he served as vice president, after which he was appointed to the presidency when the Ecuadorian Congress removed President Lucio Gutiérrez from power following a week of growing unrest with his government.

Born in Guayaquil, Palacio is a physician by profession, specializing in cardiology. He studied in his home town and, later, at Cleveland, Ohio, doing residency at Case Western Reserve University, followed by a two-year cardiology fellowship at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States. He later lectured in cardiology and public health at Guayaquil University's faculty of medicine.

Palacio was chosen as Lucio Gutiérrez's running mate in the 2002 election. It was a common sight during the campaign to see Gutiérrez, dressed in his army fatigues, accompanied by Palacios, wearing surgical scrubs. Palacio had previously served as the minister for health during the administration of Sixto Durán Ballén. Many of the ministers he chose were from the Party of the Democratic Left.

One of Palacio's first proposals made as president was to hold a Constitutional Assembly to amend Ecuador's 1998 Constitution. For a period of several months prior to assuming office, he had been a critic of the Gutiérrez regime, saying that the country was "falling apart" and in need of "intensive care".

Rafael Correa was elected president in November 2006 and replaced Palacio as president on January 15, 2007.

World Health Organization

Palacio was one of the candidates for the position of director-general of the World Health Organization, to be decided in a vote on November 9, 2006. However, on October 18, 2006, he announced he would not be pursuing the position, preferring to concentrate on his presidency until the very last day of his mandate. [http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/382085.html]

External links

* [http://www.presidencia.gov.ec/modulos.asp?id=192 Presidencia de la República – Presidente] Biography as president
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_4468000/4468617.stm BBC Mundo | América Latina | ¿Quién es Alfredo Palacio?] (BBC News)
* [http://www.coha.org/2005/06/17/ecuadors-balancing-act-palacio-the-people-and-the-imf/ Ecuador's Balancing Act: Palacio, the People and the IMF] The Council on Hemispheric Affairs