That suited Mr Alarcon, who did not want his short term of office disrupted by constitutional reform.

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However, Alarcon's political future was clouded last year by the arrest of a top deputy on corruption charges.

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Mr Alarcon was voted into office by Congress, and still answers to it.

ECONOMIST: Ecuador

Will the interim government of Fabian Alarcon, appointed president by Congress in February to replace the deposed Abdala Bucaram, do better?

ECONOMIST: Galapagos

Mr Alarcon, now President Alarcon, was called in to fix a deal.

ECONOMIST: Ecuador

On Monday, Sen Leahy and other members of the delegation dined with Parliament Chief Ricardo Alarcon and toured American writer Ernest Hemingway's former villa.

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On April 30th Mr Alarcon issued an emergency decree to stem the tides of pollution, immigration, illegal fishing and the kind of introduced species that threaten the islands' fragile ecosystems.

ECONOMIST: Galapagos

The head of Cuba's parliament, Ricardo Alarcon, told the Associated Press the federal judge in Texas had prevented jurors from seeing evidence that would have convinced them of his guilt.

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This was too blatant even for the many Ecuadoreans who had been happy enough to see Congress depose Mr Bucaram and put in his place its own speaker, Fabian Alarcon.

ECONOMIST: Ecuador

Malaga became the third Spanish team to advance, beating visiting Porto 2-0 for a 2-1 aggregate win as 20-year-old Francisco Alarcon scored in the 43rd minute and Roque Santa Cruz in the 77the.

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