Alexandra Vela

Alexandra Vela
Alexandra Vela
Minister of the Interior of Ecuador
	In office; 14 July 2021 – 29 March 2022
Preceded by	César Monge
Succeeded by	Francisco Jiménez Sánchez
Member of the National Congress of Ecuador; Province of Pichincha
	In office; 1998–2003
Member of the Constituent Assembly of Ecuador; Province of Pichincha
	In office; 1997–1998
Vice President of the National Congress of Ecuador
	In office; 1996–1997
Preceded by	Franco Romero Loayza
Succeeded by	Carlos Falquez
Member of the Metropolitan Council of Quito
	In office; 1988–1996
Personal details
Born	Alexandra Blanca Vela Puga; San Salvador
Nationality	Ecuador
Occupation	Lawyer

Alexandra Blanca Vela Puga is an Ecuadorian lawyer and politician originally from El Salvador. She was the a dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of the Americas Ecuador [until 2021 es].^[1]

Biography[edit]

Alexandra Vela was born to Ecuadorian parents in El Salvador. She studied law at the University of Lima and the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil. In 1997, she became one of the founding members of the Ecuadorian Christian Democratic Union.^[2] Vera became the Chief of staff of Jaime Roldós Aguilera in 1978, holding this position until Roldós's death in 1981, and then served as Undersecretary of Public Administration to Osvaldo Hurtado until the end of his presidency.^[3]

Vela served two four-year terms as the Metropolitan Councilor of Quito [es] from 1988 to 1996.^[3]^[4] Later, she was elected to the National Congress of Ecuador to represent the CDU and the province of Pichincha.^[5] In this period, she sued then president Abdalá Bucaram for defamation after he accused Vera of having stolen documents important to the investigation of the death of former president Jaime Roldós Aguilera.^[6] The Supreme Court of Ecuador ruled in favor of Vera in 1998 and sentenced Bucaram to two years in prison,^[7] but he had by this time already fled to asylum in Panama.^[8]

From 1997 to 1998, Vera served as the Vice President of the National Congress.^[9] She resigned from this seat to join the Constituent Assembly of 1997–98 [es],^[10] responsible for the drafting of the Constitution of 1998 [es].^[11]

After the demise of the government of Jamil Mahuad and the disintegration of the CDU bloc in the National Congress, Vela became part of Osvaldo Hurtado's Solidarity Fatherland Movement.^[12] She would unsuccessfully attempt to win a seat in the legislative election of 2002 [es].^[13]

She joined the Cabinet of Guillermo Lasso as Interior Minister in 2021.

^ "ALEXANDRA VELA PUGA". derecho.udla.edu.ec. University of the Americas Ecuador. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ Alcántara Sáez 2001, p. 280.
^ ^a ^b "CURRICULUM VITAE ALEXANDRA VELA". Hoy (in Spanish). 6 June 1997. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ "Al borde del 2000". Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ "La historia de las mujeres en la Asamblea". El Comercio (in Spanish). 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ "La Democracia Popular no le teme a Abdalá dice Rivera". Hoy (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ "Bucaram con dos años de prisión". Hoy (in Spanish). 11 June 1998. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ "El Loco: I'm not that crazy". CBS News. 8 August 2001. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ Alcántara Sáez 2001, p. 294.
^ "Eligen Vicepresidente del Congreso". Hoy (in Spanish). 14 October 1997. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ Alcántara Sáez 2001, p. 296.
^ "Los ex DP se incorporan a Patria Solidaria". La Hora. 3 February 2002. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
^ "Resultados electorales – Diputados". Hoy. November 2002. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.

Alcántara Sáez, Manuel, ed. (2001). Partidos políticos de América Latina. Países andinos (in Spanish). University of Salamanca. ISBN 9788478008421.