Guillermo Rodríguez (politician)

Guillermo Rodríguez Lara (born November 4, 1924), known as "Bombita", was the military dictator of Ecuador from February 15, 1972 to January 11, 1976. He took courses in C&R&Bn Staff, Irregular Warfare Orientation, and Maintenance Management at the School of the Americas. As commander of the army, he led a military coup d'etat executed by a navy commander named Jorge Queirolo G. and forced president José María Velasco into exile, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. During his rule, drilling the country's oil reserves funded the construction of hospitals, schools, roads (notably, paving the Quito-Tulcán road), the oil refinery at Esmeraldas, and equipment for the armed services. The military removed him from power in 1976.