The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Ecuador

This page contains a list of the greatest Ecuadorean Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 35 of which were born in Ecuador. This makes Ecuador the birth place of the 75th most number of Politicians behind Libya, and Kazakhstan.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Ecuadorean Politicians of all time. This list of famous Ecuadorean Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Ecuadorean Politicians.

1. Guillermo Lasso (b. 1955)

With an HPI of 67.80, Guillermo Lasso is the most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 165 different languages on wikipedia.

Guillermo Alberto Santiago Lasso Mendoza (Latin American Spanish: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo ˈlaso]; born 16 November 1955) is an Ecuadorian businessman, banker and politician who served as the 47th president of Ecuador from 2021 to 2023. He was the country's first conservative president in nearly two decades, marking a shift in the country's electorate. Lasso served as Superminister of Economy during the Jamil Mahuad presidency briefly in 1999. He previously served as Governor of Guayas from 1998 to 1999. In 2003, he briefly served as the Itinerant Ambassador of Ecuador during the Lucio Gutiérrez administration. Aside from his political career, Lasso is also a banker and previously was CEO of Banco Guayaquil. During the presidency of Rafael Correa, Lasso became a noted critic of his administration. A traditional economic liberal, his public agenda includes classical liberal points such as the defence of the division of powers to limit government and of fundamental rights. He has also expressed opinions in favour of lower taxes and is a free-market advocate. Lasso became involved in presidential politics when he founded the Creating Opportunities Party in 2012. He first ran for president in 2013 where he came in a distant second place behind President Correa. He would later run again in the 2017 election, advancing to the run-off, running against former Vice President Lenín Moreno, and narrowly losing the election. In his third presidential campaign in 2021, Lasso narrowly advanced to the April run-off round of the election in February and was later elected. Lasso's presidency was noted for COVID-19 vaccination initiatives and economic relief packages through tax increases on the wealthy and funding with the International Monetary Fund. However, the increase of food and fuel prices, as well as his economic policies, culminated in a series of protests across the country. The government's response raised concerns over human rights abuses, with crackdowns on indigenous protests at the hands of security forces, as well as alleged excessive force against journalists. Lasso's approval rating dropped significantly throughout 2022 and in 2023. In May 2023, the National Assembly officially began a second impeachment proceeding against Lasso. On 17 May, Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by invoking a constitutional measure known as muerte cruzada, triggering the 2023 general election, in which he did not run and was succeeded by Daniel Noboa.

2. Huayna Capac (1476 - 1525)

With an HPI of 64.24, Huayna Capac is the 2nd most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Huayna Capac (/waɪnə ˈkɑːpək/; Quechua: Wayna Qhapaq) (before 1493 – 1527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui.,: 108 the sixth Sapa Inca of the Hanan dynasty, and eleventh of the Inca civilization. He was born in Tumipampa and tutored to become Sapa Inca from a young age. Tawantinsuyu reached its greatest extent under Huayna Capac, as he expanded the empire's borders south along the Chilean coast, and north through what is now Ecuador and southern Colombia. According to the priest Juan de Velasco he absorbed the Quito Confederation into his empire by marrying Queen Paccha Duchicela, halting a long protracted war. Huayna Capac founded the city Atuntaqui and developed the city Cochabamba as an agriculture and administrative center. The Sapa Inca greatly expanded the Inca road system and had many qullqa (storehouses) built. Huayna Capac died in 1527, likely from a European disease introduced to the Americas by the Spaniards. The death of him and his eldest son Ninan Cuyochi sparked the Inca Civil War, in which his sons Huáscar and Atahualpa fought over succession as the next Sapa Inca. Tawantinsuyu fell to Spanish conquests shortly after Atahualpa's victory.

3. Rafael Correa (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 62.82, Rafael Correa is the 3rd most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 156 different languages.

Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (Spanish pronunciation: [rafaˈel βiˈsente koˈre.a ðelˈɣaðo]; born 6 April 1963) is an Ecuadorian politician and economist who served as President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017. The leader of the PAIS Alliance political movement from its foundation until 2017, Correa is a democratic socialist and his administration focused on the implementation of left-wing policies. Internationally, he served as president pro tempore of the UNASUR. Since 2017, he has been living in exile in Belgium. Born to a lower middle-class mestizo family in Guayaquil, Correa studied economics at the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, the University of Louvain (UCLouvain), and the University of Illinois, where he received his PhD. Returning to Ecuador, in 2005 he became the Minister for the Economy under President Alfredo Palacio, successfully lobbying Congress for increased spending on health and education projects. Correa won the presidency in the 2006 general election on a platform criticizing the established political elites. Taking office in January 2007, he sought to move away from Ecuador's neoliberal economic model by reducing the influence of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. He oversaw the introduction of a new constitution, being reelected in 2009 and again in the 2013 general election. Correa's presidency was part of the Latin American pink tide, a turn toward leftist governments in the region, allying himself with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela and bringing Ecuador into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in June 2009. Using its own form of 21st century socialism, Correa's administration increased government spending, reducing poverty, raising the minimum wage and increasing Ecuador's standard of living. From 2006 to 2016, poverty decreased from 36.7% to 22.5% and annual per capita GDP growth was 1.5% (as compared to 0.6% over the previous two decades). At the same time, economic inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, decreased from 0.55 to 0.47. By the end of Correa's tenure, the 50% drop in the price of oil since 2014 had caused Ecuador's economy to enter a recession, resulting in government spending being slashed. On 3 July 2018, a judge in Ecuador ordered a warrant for Correa's arrest after he failed to appear in court during a trial surrounding the kidnapping of his political opponent Fernando Balda. Correa, who lived in Belgium at the time, denied the allegations regarding the kidnapping. In July 2018 Interpol rejected an Ecuador-issued arrest warrant and called it "obviously a political matter." In April 2020 the Criminal Court of the National Court of Justice found Correa guilty of aggravated passive bribery in the Caso Sobornos 2012-2016. He was sentenced in absentia to 8 years in prison.

4. Lenín Moreno (b. 1953)

With an HPI of 61.58, Lenín Moreno is the 4th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 57 different languages.

Lenín Boltaire Moreno Garcés (Spanish pronunciation: [leˈnim bolˈtajɾe moˈɾeno ɣaɾˈses]; born 19 March 1953) is an Ecuadorian politician who served as the 46th president of Ecuador, from 2017 to 2021. Moreno was vice president from 2007 to 2013, serving under President Rafael Correa. He was nominated as the candidate for Correa's PAIS Alliance, a social democratic political party, in the 2017 presidential election and won a narrow victory in Ecuador's second round of voting on 2 April 2017. However, after his election Moreno drastically shifted his political stance, distancing himself from Correa's leftist legacy in both domestic and foreign policy. By the end of Moreno's presidency, he had left office with a staggeringly low approval rating of 9%, the lowest in modern Ecuadorian history. He was expelled from PAIS Alliance in March 2021 after the party's crushing defeat in the 2021 elections. Moreno was shot in a 1998 robbery attempt and thereafter has used a wheelchair. For his advocacy for people with disabilities, he was nominated for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. According to The New York Times, while he was in office from 2017 to 2021, Moreno was the world's only serving head of state to use a wheelchair.

5. Gabriel García Moreno (1821 - 1875)

With an HPI of 55.60, Gabriel García Moreno is the 5th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Gabriel Gregorio Fernando José María García Moreno y Morán de Butrón (24 December 1821 – 6 August 1875), was an Ecuadorian politician and aristocrat who twice served as President of Ecuador (1861–65 and 1869–75) and was assassinated during his second term after being elected to a third. He is noted for his conservatism, Catholic religious perspective and rivalry with liberal strongman Eloy Alfaro. García Moreno was noted for efforts to economically and agriculturally advance Ecuador and for his staunch opposition to corruption.: 326

6. Alfredo Palacio (b. 1939)

With an HPI of 54.78, Alfredo Palacio is the 6th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Luis Alfredo Palacio González (born 22 January 1939) is an Ecuadorian cardiologist and former politician who was President of Ecuador from 20 April 2005 to 15 January 2007. From 15 January 2003 to 20 April 2005, he was 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.

7. José María Velasco Ibarra (1893 - 1979)

With an HPI of 54.40, José María Velasco Ibarra is the 7th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

José María Velasco Ibarra (19 March 1893 – 30 March 1979) was an Ecuadorian politician. He became president of Ecuador five times, in 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968–1972, and only in 1952–1956 he completed a full term. In his four other terms, he was removed by military force, and several times he was installed as president through a military coup.

8. Gustavo Noboa (1937 - 2021)

With an HPI of 54.14, Gustavo Noboa is the 8th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Gustavo José Joaquín Noboa Bejarano (21 August 1937 – 16 February 2021) was an Ecuadorian politician. He served as the 42nd president of Ecuador from 22 January 2000 to 15 January 2003. Previously he served as the vice president during Jamil Mahuad's government from 1998 until 2000. From 1983 until 1984, he also was the Governor of the province of Guayas.

9. Eloy Alfaro (1842 - 1912)

With an HPI of 53.83, Eloy Alfaro is the 9th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

José Eloy Alfaro Delgado (25 June 1842 – 28 January 1912) often referred to as "The Old Warrior," was an Ecuadorian politician who served as the President of Ecuador from 1895 to 1901 and from 1906 to 1911. Eloy Alfaro emerged as the leader of the Liberal Party and became a driving force for fairness, justice and liberty. He became one of the strongest opponents of the pro-Catholic conservative President Gabriel García Moreno (1821–1875). The "Viejo Luchador" (in Spanish) played a central role in the Liberal Revolution of 1895 and fought against conservatism for almost 30 years. Alfaro's major political legacies are considered to be strengthened national unity, securing the integrity of Ecuador's borders, and the increased secularization of the country. Alfaro led the modernization of Ecuadorian society through the introduction of new ideas, education, and systems of public transport and communication, including the engineering feat of the Transandino Railway linking Guayaquil with Quito. Alfaro's effigy appeared on the Ecuadorian 50-cent coin from the 2000 issue, and the Ecuadorian Army's military college bears his name, as have two ships of the Ecuadorian Navy.

10. Álvaro Noboa (b. 1950)

With an HPI of 53.70, Álvaro Noboa is the 10th most famous Ecuadorean Politician. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Álvaro Fernando Noboa Pontón (born November 21, 1950) is an Ecuadorian businessman and politician. He is the father of the incumbent president, Daniel Noboa. Noboa has been actively involved in politics as a perennial candidate, unsuccessfully running for the office of President of Ecuador in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2009 and 2013. In 2007, however, he was elected national assemblyman. In 2013, Noboa ran for office for the fifth time unsuccessfully. In the 2023 Ecuadorian general election, his son, Daniel Noboa, was elected President of Ecuador, the youngest ever to hold that position. In 1997, already owning 24% of Bonita Bananas, Noboa purchased another 25% of the shares of the holding company for the family business. Presently, he runs the Noboa Group of Companies and Noboa Corporation, with more than 110 companies in Ecuador and around the world, including branch offices in United States, Antwerp, Rome, Japan, Argentina, and New Zealand.

People

Pantheon has 39 people classified as Ecuadorean politicians born between 1476 and 1998. Of these 39, 13 (33.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Ecuadorean politicians include Guillermo Lasso, Rafael Correa, and Lenín Moreno. The most famous deceased Ecuadorean politicians include Huayna Capac, Gabriel García Moreno, and José María Velasco Ibarra. As of April 2024, 4 new Ecuadorean politicians have been added to Pantheon including José María Urvina, José Luis Tamayo, and Gonzalo Córdova.