Juan Velasco Alvarado of the Velasco administration's economic policies is still debated today. As the Peruvian military government ran deeper into debt, it was forced to devalue the currency and run inflationary policies. This however, was in part due to the 1970s Energy Crisis, which also affected Peru and made it impossible for the Velasco administration to fund some of its most ambitious reforms. In foreign policy, in contrast with his 1970s Latin American contemporaries, which were mostly right-wing military dictatorships, he pursued a partnership with the Soviet bloc, tightening relations with Cuba and Fidel Castro and undertaking major purchases of Soviet military
José María Velasco Ibarra José María Velasco Ibarra José María Velasco Ibarra (March 19, 1893 – March 30, 1979) was an Ecuadorian politician. Five times he became president of Ecuador: 1934–1935, 1944–1947, 1952–1956, 1960–1961, and 1968–1972. But only once (1952–1956) did he complete the full term. In his four other exits he was removed by military force; indeed several times he was installed as president through a military coup. Ecuador was notably unstable – with 17 constitutions after independence in 1830, . Velasco Ibarra was a fiery populist who did not have a formal party organization. Rather it was his populist rhetoric that attracted