Ecuador Has a New Female VP

HAVANA TIMES – The socialist María Alejandra Vicuña was elected today by the National Assembly as the new constitutional vice president of Ecuador to replace the imprisoned Jorge Glas, convicted of corruption, reported dpa news.

Vicuña, 39, obtained the majority vote (70 votes) from the list sent by the president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, that also included Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa, and the Minister of Justice, Rosana Alvarado.

A Clinical Psychologist with a Masters in Business Administration, María Alejandra Vicuña
is from Guayaquil, and jumped into the political life of the country as an Assembly member for the Alianza País (AP) Movement from 2009 to 2017.

Vicuña is the second woman to occupy the vice presidency in Ecuador. Rosalía Arteaga held that office from 1996-1998.   

Vicuña was nominated on May 24 to integrate the cabinet of President Moreno as Minister of Housing.

On October 4, she was in charge of the vice presidency because two days earlier, then Vice President Jorge Glas was arrested and taken to a prison in Quito accused of receiving bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht.

Moreno commissioned Vicuña to coordinate everything related to the referendum to which Ecuadorians are invited to the polls on February 4.

Vicuña belongs to a socialist movement led by her father, Leonardo Vicuña, in the Alianza Bolivariana Alfarista, one of the groups that brought former president Rafael Correa to power in 2007.

She integrated was a candidate for the Alianza Pais Movement to the National Assembly for the province of Guayas, serving two periods serving as a legislator from 2009-2017.

Vicuñas period as vice president will be to complete the term of Jorge Glas, lasting until May 24, 2021.