Guillermo Lasso

Guillermo Alberto Santiago Lasso Mendoza (born 16 November 1955) is an Ecuadorian businessman, banker and politician who served as the 47th president of Ecuador from 2021 to 2023.

He was the country's first conservative president in nearly two decades, marking a shift in the country's electorate.

In 1970, Lasso began working part-time at the Guayaquil Stock Exchange and later worked as a collection agency assistant at Casa Möeller Martínez.

In 1972, he started working at the financial company Cofiec and then at Finansa in Quito.

In 1977, Lasso met María de Lourdes Alcívar, whom he married in 1980.

They have five children: María de Lourdes, Juan, Guillermo Enrique, Santiago and María de las Mercedes.

His first company was Constructora Alfa y Omega, founded with his older brother Enrique Lasso in 1978, when he was 23 years old.

His brother-in-law Danilo Carrera Drouet previously served as CEO of Banco Guayaquil from 1983 to 1984.

As a part of his tenure, he founded the Bancos del Barrio program, a community banking initiative that brought in local shopkeepers as economic partners with the bank in planning and strategy.

The program was cited by the Inter-American Development Bank as an advancement in grassroots banking penetration strategy.

During the 1990s, Lasso was named the head of operations in Ecuador for Coca-Cola, following the local bankruptcy of the company in that region.

In this role, Lasso was tasked with restructuring the company and bringing it back to financial health.

He has since sat on the boards of directors for both Coca-Cola and Mavesa, and also served as chairman of the board of directors of the Guayas Transit Commission as well as being a member of the Board of Directors of CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 1994 Lasso became the CEO of Banco Guayaquil.

He previously served as Governor of Guayas from 1998 to 1999.

Lasso served as Superminister of Economy during the Jamil Mahuad presidency briefly in 1999.

In 2003, he briefly served as the Itinerant Ambassador of Ecuador during the Lucio Gutiérrez administration.

Aside from his political career, Lasso is also a banker and previously served as CEO of Banco Guayaquil.

During the presidency of Rafael Correa, Lasso became a noted critic of his administration.

A traditional economic liberal, his public agenda includes classical liberal points such as the defence of the division of powers to limit government and of fundamental rights.

He has also expressed opinions in favour of lower taxes and is a free-market advocate.

Lasso became involved in presidential politics when he founded the Creating Opportunities Party in 2012.

He resigned from his post as Executive President in 2012.

Lasso is, through a trust named with his initials, GLM, the largest shareholder in Banco de Guayaquil, where he was executive president for more than 20 years.

He is also the founder of the Fundación del Barrio.

He first ran for president in 2013 where he came in a distant second place behind President Correa.

He would later run again in the 2017 election, advancing to the run-off, running against former Vice President Lenín Moreno, and narrowly losing the election.

In his third presidential campaign in 2021, Lasso narrowly advanced to the April run-off round of the election in February and was later elected.

Lasso's presidency was noted for COVID-19 vaccination initiatives and economic relief packages through tax increases on the wealthy and funding with the International Monetary Fund.

However, the increase of food and fuel prices, as well as his economic policies, culminated in a series of protests across the country.

The government's response raised concerns over human rights abuses, with crackdowns on indigenous protests at the hands of security forces, as well as alleged excessive force against journalists.

Lasso's approval rating dropped significantly throughout 2022 and in 2023.

In May 2023, the National Assembly officially began a second impeachment proceeding against Lasso.

On 17 May, Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by invoking a constitutional measure known as muerte cruzada, triggering the 2023 general election, in which he did not run and was succeeded by Daniel Noboa.

Lasso was born in the Orellana neighborhood of Guayaquil to a middle-class family.

His parents were Enrique Lasso Alvarado and Nora Mendoza.

Lasso has ten siblings and his family lived with financial hardships.

At age 15, Lasso worked to earn sufficient money to pay for his baccalaureate service at Colegio La Salle High School.

After graduating from high school, he entered the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito to study economics but left without a degree.

In March 2020, Lasso created the humanitarian initiative Saving Lives which was an initiative against the COVID-19 pandemic and raised US$8 million to help purchase medical supplies and equipment for the Ecuadorian Health System.