Round Three

"Ecuador," says President Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, "is a very difficult country to govern." He should know; he is currently involved in his third try at it. The big difficulty in both of his previous terms was the armed forces. Velasco twice tangled with top commanders, who accused him of unconstitutional conduct, and twice got chucked out of his job. Last week it was Velasco v. the military again.

The crisis started a month ago, when Velasco's Minister of Economy Jaime Nebot made a slighting reference to a high army officer. Incensed at this challenge to military prestige, other officers demanded that the President fire Nebot. Velasco balked, so the armed forces persuaded Defense Minister Reinaldo Varea Donoso, himself a lieutenant colonel, to resign in protest. Then, one night last week, the commanders redoubled their pressure, insisting that Velasco not only oust Nebot but restore Varea Donoso.

Velasco, alarmed, climbed into his private car at 10p.m., with only his naval aide and a civilian friend. Driving all night on the perilous, 300-mile road that swings down through the Andes from the capital at Quito, he reached the Pacific seaport of Guayaquil. Seven top officers ordered troops to occupy Quito communications centers, then flew off after him. But the President's lead gave him time enough to strike a deal with the Guayaquil military command. By dumping Nebot, he persuaded the Guayaquil garrison to arrest the pursuing officers for "promoting disorder," when they stepped from their plane. (Four were soon released.) Velasco put the mayor of the loyal city of Guayaquil into the Defense Ministry in place of Varea Donoso. At week's end the winner and still President of Ecuador was Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra.

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