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| 1975 |
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| Urban groups, mobilizing to demand social reform amid massive migration from the impoverished countryside to the cities, carried out a successful general strike. | 1 |
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| 1976, Jan. 11 |
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| Rightist military leaders led a coup under V. Adm. Alfredo Poveda Burbano. The regime moved to the Right, inviting massive foreign investment and initiating an International Monetary Fund (IMF) austerity program. | 2 |
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| 1979, April |
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| After the military, unable to deal with economic problems, agreed to turn power over to civilians, Jaime Roldós Aguilera, candidate of the Confederation of Popular Forces (CFP), won presidential elections. He promised social and economic reform but was consistently stifled by the Congress. | 3 |
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| 1980–90 |
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| Growing protest by the National Federation of Peasant Organizations (FENOC) and the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) against government promotion of agribusiness and Amazonian oil development at the expense of rural communities. | 4 |
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| 1980, May |
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| Roldós's CFP won a majority in Congress, opening the way for a massive program of rural investment and reform. | 5 |
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| 1981, May |
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| Pres. Roldós was killed in a plane crash and was succeeded by the conservative Osvaldo Hurtado Larea, who adopted austerity measures favoring big business. The collapse of the oil economy, the growing debt ($5.5 billion in 1982), and student and labor protests led to several states of emergency. | 6 |
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| 1984, May 6 |
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| Ultraconservative León Febres Cordero was narrowly elected president. In late 1984, Febres signed an agreement with the IMF to defer the $7 billion debt and promote foreign and private investment. He also removed subsidies on basic foodstuffs, cut back loans to small farmers, and limited wages. | 7 |
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| 1987, March 5 |
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| The country was hit by a devastating earthquake, leaving 2,000 dead and over 50,000 injured. The earthquake also severely disrupted the oil industry. | 8 |
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| March 25 |
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| For the second year in a row, labor organizations launched a general strike to protest the government's neoliberal policies. Protesters were suppressed by security forces through widespread arrests, beatings, and torture. | 9 |
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