THE TRAGEDY OF A CRAZY PRESIDENT

By Philip M. Lustre Jr.

On February 6, 1997, or nearly twenty years ago, the unthinkable happened in Ecuador, a relatively small South American republic of 14 million people.

The Ecuadorean Congress, in an unprecedented move in Latin American politics, declared Abdala Bucaram Ortiz, its president, as “mentally unfit,” replaced him with a congressional leader, and forced him to seek political asylum in Panama.

The congressional initiative was swift and decisive as Bucaram, a scion of Lebanese immigrants, was president for only seven months. Besides, he was popularly elected, as he won 21 of Ecuador’s 22 provinces.

Although the economic problems that cropped out when he became president on August 10, 1996 were factors that forced congressional leaders to take the juggernaut, it was largely his series of comedic actuation that had led to his dismissal.

Bucaram was perceived a mad man; he branded himself as “el loco” (crazy guy). 

When the Ecuadorean economy plummeted as a result of policy changes he earlier initiated, Bucaram took efforts to divert the Ecuadoreans’ attention away from those issues and did what he thought was best – be himself.

He did not just cultivate his public image of an iconoclast, who challenged authorities and traditions, but overplayed it to become the comic, who sought to entertain the Ecuadoreans, who, at that time, felt the economic pressures and were becoming dismayed by his lack of leadership.

Amid the scandals and corruption charges, Bucaram released CD copies of his music entitled “A Crazy Man Who Loves” (“El Loco Que Ama” in Spanish). He shaved off his trademark moustache on live TV and later adopted the clipped moustache of Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler.

Bucaram invited for lunch the Ecuadorian American Lorena Bobbitt, who gained international notoriety for castrating her husband. He attended the World Banana Queen contest in Quito, grabbed the microphone, and crooned to the winner, as he was surrounded by scantily clad contestants.

These were not all. Bucaram insulted a former president by comparing him to a “burro,” or donkey. When asked to issue a public apology, Bucaram obliged but he did it not to the political leader, but to the donkeys.

When he became president, Bucaram named his business associates in top government positions, appointed certain family members to his Cabinet, and put his 18-year-old son in charge of the Ecuadorian customs office.

He offered $1 million for globally known Diego Maradona to play one soccer game with him and also gave CD copies of  his song “A Madman in Love” to other heads of government to an Ibero-American conference in Chile.

The air of negativity and hatred that characterized Bucaram’s presidency culminated when the Ecuadorean Congress dismissed him on ground of “mental incapacity,” triggering a political precedent that has become a new model for the rest of the world.

Despite his tragic political fate, Bucaram managed to give the quote of all time: “They call me ‘Crazy Abdalá’, but madmen speak from the heart and see with their soul.”