Alfredo Palacio

Dr. Luis Alfredo Palacio Gonzales Hureira (born January 22 1939 in Guayaquil) is the current interim President of Ecuador. From 15 January 2003 to 20 April 2005 he served as vice president, after which he was appointed temporarily to the presidency when the Ecuadorian Congress removed President Lucio Gutiérrez from power following a week of growing unrest with his government.

Palacio is a physician by profession, specialising in cardiology. He studied in his home town and, later, at Cleveland, Ohio, and St. Louis, Missouri, in the U.S. He later lectured in cardiology and public health at Guayaquil University's faculty of medicine.

Palacio was chosen as Lucio Gutiérrez's running mate in the 2002 election. It was a common sight during the campaign to see Gutiérrez, dressed in his army fatigues, accompanied by Palacios, wearing surgical scrubs. Palacio had previously served as the minister for health during the administration of Sixto Durán-Ballén.

One of Palacio's first proposals made as interim president was to hold a Constitutional Assembly to amend Ecuador's 1988 Constitution. For a period of several months prior to assuming office, he had been a critic of the Gutiérrez regime, saying that the country was "falling apart" and in need of "intensive care".

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