Roldós Aquilera, Jaime (1940-1981)

Ecuadorean politician and president 1979-81 whose election marked an important milestone in Ecuador's political history - that of democratic rule after decades of dominance by military rule.

He was a social democrat and candidate of the centre-left Concentración de Fuerzas Populares (CPF; Concentration of Popular Forces). He actively sought to improve social conditions in his country. In the period leading up to the 1979 elections, Roldós was actively involved in committees charged with electoral and legislative change, which were instrumental in the creation of the new 1979 constitution. In 1980, he set up his own political party. His reformist administration ended in 1981, with his death in an air crash. His vice president, Osvaldo Hurtado Larrea, assumed the presidential office.