Rodrigo Borja obit

Former president Rodrigo Borja, a historic leader of social democracy in Ecuador, has died.

 

He was not on the list.

QUITO (AP) — Former President Rodrigo Borja, one of Ecuador's most renowned politicians, the undisputed leader of social democracy, and a witness to the growing power of the indigenous movement during his presidency, died Thursday, the presidency confirmed. He was 90.

Borja Cevallos always projected the image of an honest man in a country where accusations of corruption in public power abound.

“Rodrigo Borja will forever be in the memory of Ecuador. Today this country honors his legacy,” President Daniel Noboa wrote on social media after learning of the news, extending his condolences to the family. The cause of death was not released.

State and government institutions, local governments, and personalities from various sectors of society joined in expressing their condolences for the passing, including the Ecuadorian Academy of Language, of which Borja was a member.

President of Ecuador from 1988 to 1992, he ran for office five times, the last two in 1998 and 2002, in which he failed to advance to the second round.

Following this final defeat, Borja announced his definitive retirement from political life and from the leadership of the Democratic Left party—of which he was one of the founders—which has not since had a figure with the same influence and power. The party disappeared a few years later, but was subsequently revived.

Although Borja distanced himself from domestic politics, he accepted President Rafael Correa's nomination for the secretariat of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), an organization created in April 2007 with the intention of replacing the South American Community of Nations. Shortly afterward, he resigned from the position for reasons he never publicly clarified.

Throughout his political career, and beyond, Borja embraced the vision of a democracy with social justice and equity, as well as the role of state institutions. His vehement defense of workers' rights, which he publicly expressed in the face of his right-wing adversaries, demonstrated his commitment to marginalized sectors, as did the policies he promoted as president, including the national literacy program.

From a very young age he was active in the Liberal Party, from which he later left along with other young people to found in 1970 the Democratic Left, a leftist political group —not Marxist—, with great acceptance in the indigenous highlands.

He was the eternal rival of right-wing leader León Febres Cordero in the country's extensive coastal area, who defeated him in the 1984 presidential elections. Four years later, Borja capitalized on popular discontent with Febres's government and won the elections.

Borja's government, led by a lawyer from Quito's middle class, was praised for its ambitious literacy program and the implementation of other social programs.

While he demonstrated acceptable management of public finances and the direction of the regime in the early years, he ended his term with a discouraging economic situation, leaving behind high inflation rates and a fiscal deficit. He was criticized for failing to capitalize on the fact that he enjoyed a parliamentary majority sympathetic to him during the first two years of his presidency.

Among the most significant events of his administration was the first national indigenous uprising, which took the country by surprise. In June 1990, this sector, almost invisible for decades, demonstrated its internal organization and its power to mobilize, blocking highways to demand agrarian reform, respect for its rights, and recognition that Ecuador is a multicultural country.

Since then, indigenous influence has grown in the national political sphere, which has resulted in the consolidation of the largest indigenous group, the powerful Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, CONAIE.

In February 1991, Borja succeeded in getting the subversive group Alfaro Vive, which had operated under the previous government, to renounce armed struggle and, in a public act, lay down their weapons and reintegrate into civil society.

Born on June 19, 1935, Borja authored several books on political topics and was a frequent speaker at academic forums in various countries. His last work, and perhaps his most notable, was the voluminous "Encyclopedia of Politics."

The former president—married to Carmen Calisto, with whom he had four children—was a lifelong fan of extreme sports. On more than one occasion, he dressed up as a submariner, pilot, and paratrooper.

He was a visible figure in the street protests of 1997, which concluded with the removal of then-President Abdalá Bucaram.