Lucio Gutierrez vs Omar Torrijos

Colonel Lucio Gutierrez led a group of military officers in a coup that overthrew President Mahuad on January 21, 2000. The coup was supported by indigenous protesters, and Gutierrez briefly served on a three-member junta before ceding power to Vice President Noboa.

Gutierrez won the 2002 presidential election as a populist outsider, running on an anti-corruption platform. He took office on January 15, 2003, becoming the first former coup leader to be democratically elected president in Ecuador.

After shifting to a conservative economic policy and facing massive protests, Gutierrez was removed from office by Congress on April 20, 2005, on grounds of 'abandonment of office.' Vice President Alfredo Palacio succeeded him, ending Gutierrez's presidency.

Torrijos, as a lieutenant colonel, co-led a military coup that overthrew President Arnulfo Arias. The National Guard took power, and Torrijos emerged as the de facto leader of Panama, establishing a military government.

Torrijos initiated an agrarian reform program that redistributed land to peasant families. The reform aimed to reduce rural poverty and inequality, but its implementation was uneven and faced opposition from large landowners.

Torrijos negotiated treaties with U.S. President Jimmy Carter that established the gradual transfer of the Panama Canal from U.S. to Panamanian control by 1999. The treaties were ratified by Panama in a 1977 referendum and by the U.S. Senate in 1978.

Torrijos died when his De Havilland Twin Otter aircraft crashed in the mountains of Penonom