Bucaram Ortiz, Abdalá, 1952-

Abdalá Jaime Bucaram Ortiz ( ahb-də-LAH buu-kə-RAHM; born 4 February 1952) is an Ecuadorian politician and lawyer who was the 38th president of Ecuador from 1996 until his removal from office in 1997. As president, Bucaram was nicknamed "El Loco Que Ama" ("The Madman Who Loves", a nickname he championed). Of Lebanese descent, Bucaram was born in Guayaquil and grew up playing sports, becoming a gym teacher before studying law in the University of Guayaquil. He later became the mayor of the town and began his political career. In 1988 and 1992, Bucaram unsuccessfully ran for president, having won in his third attempt in 1996. However, shortly after taking office, Bucaram was criticized for his bad attitude towards the press. He was also involved in several cases which eroded public support. Bucaram was subsequently removed from office after being declared mentally unfit to rule by the National Congress on 6 February 1997. Fabián Alarcón, the president of the National Congress, became acting president. However, three days later on 9 February, Bucaram's vice president, Rosalía Arteaga, became president which caused a succession dispute with Alarcón on who should succeed Bucaram and thus, a political crisis. However, two days later on 11 February, Alarcón was reinstated as president with Arteaga retaking her previous role as vice president. Bucaram visited multiple countries in Latin America in an attempt to gain support to regain the presidency. However, the move failed and he lived in exile in Panama under political asylum laws, until he returned to Ecuador in 2017 when the charges against him expired. He started the Ecuadorian Roldosist Party, named after his brother in law Jaime Roldos.