León Febres Cordero was a central and colourful figure on the right of Ecuador’s political spectrum for 50 years. He reached the height of his power as President of Ecuador between 1984 and 1988. In a long career as a politician with the centre-right Social Christian Party he was a senator, a deputy and later mayor of his home city, Guayaquil, on the Pacific Coast, between 1992 and 2000.

Blasco Peñaherrera, who served as Febres Cordero’s Vice-President, referred to him as “the last caudillo”, or political strongman, while opponents claimed that he was so powerful that he “owned” the country. Febres Cordero was well known for his direct approach by the time he stood for the presidency. He won the 1984 election under the slogan “Bread, roof and employment”. In a televised interview just before the votes were cast, he reprimanded his main rival, Rodrigo Borja: “Mr Borja, look me in the eyes when I talk to you.”

Febres Cordero was often known simply as “León”, which means lion in Spanish, in recognition of his political and personal strength, and flowing hair. He had a reputation for toughness: he was shot three times while campaigning, he had two different types of cancer and underwent five heart bypass surgeries. As a result of cancer, Febres Cordero had a glass eye that he would use to intimidate political rivals with an unblinking stare.

Febres Cordero’s presidential term was marked by social protest and the rise of subversive groups , such as the armed revolutionary movement Alfaro Vive ¡Carajo!, which means Alfaro Lives, Damn it! Febres Cordero’s response was heavy-handed: the Government created units often commonly characterised as death squads to dismantle the groups. Government forces also relied on torture and extrajudicial arrest, and many of the revolutionary leaders were killed. Febres Cordero insisted on treating members as common criminals. “They cannot be granted any political status,” he said in 1986. When Alfaro Vive kidnapped the businessman Nahím Isaías in 1985, Febres Cordero himself commanded the military operation to rescue the hostage. However, Isaías died in the struggle, in circumstances that were never fully explained.

Human rights groups maintain that Febres Cordero’s Government was Ecuador’s most repressive. Unrest was exploited to persecute groups who were in opposition to the Government but that were not linked to the urban guerrilla movement. The current Ecuadorean President, Rafael Correa, has set up a truth commission to investigate 500 cases of torture and enforced disappearance, mostly in the period under Febres Cordero’s presidency. One case, as yet unsolved, involved the Restrepo brothers, who were 14 and 17 years old when they were arrested in 1988. The brothers were never seen again and their bodies have not yet been found. Febres Cordero’s Government embraced neo-liberal economic policies, although Ecuador struggled through a period of low oil prices. The cost of basic foods were deregulated, exports were encouraged and the government prioritised paying off its foreign debt. As a result, Febres Cordero won some admiration from Ronald Reagan, the US President. During his term in office, Febres Cordero also invested heavily in expanding Ecuador’s road network.

In 1987 Febres Cordero survived a military rebellion when he was kidnapped by air force commandos who killed three of his bodyguards. They demanded the release of General Frank Vargas Pazzos, who had played a leading role in a military revolt the year before and accused the Government of corruption. Febres Cordero was released after eleven hours and a beating.

Febres Cordero was born in 1931 in Guayaquil, western Ecuador. His parents were wealthy and he was educated at a primary school run by Silesian monks. He was then sent to the US, where he attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy in Maryland. Febres Cordero remained in the US as an undergraduate, and he studied mechanical engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. As a young man, Febres Cordero was a crack shot with a sporting pistol and as President he often carried a handgun. He was also a lifelong chain-smoker. “My best friends are my cigarettes and my pistols,” he said. “They don’t ask for anything and they are always ready.”

Febres Cordero was also a successful businessman and, on his return from the US, he amassed one of the largest personal fortunes in Ecuador through his dealings in the paper, brewing, textile and energy industries.

By the early 1960s, he was an executive with the Noboa group, the largest exporter of food products in Ecuador, and his first political role was as an industry representative in the 1966 constituent assembly. “Consciously or unconsciously, I became immersed in political activity,” Febres Cordero said. He retired from politics in early 2007 as a result of his failing health.

Febres Cordero married María Eugenia Cordovez in 1954 and they had four daughters. He married his second wife, Cruz María Massú, in 1988; they did not have children.

León Febres Cordero, President of Ecuador 1984-88, was born on March 9, 1931. He died after suffering lung cancer and pulmonary emphysema, on December 15, 2008, aged 77