QUITO (Xinhua) -- Ecuador's new defense minister Wellington Sandoval was sworn in by President Rafael Correa.

The ceremony took place in the city of Chimbo in Bolivar province, 235 km south of Quito, officials said on Friday.
Sandoval, a physician who replaced Lorena Escudero, now the migration secretary, had served as public health minister in the previous government of Alfredo Palacio.
He was the third defense minister sworn in by Correa, whose government took power on January 15.
Escudero, who resigned on Thursday, had been successor of deceased socialist leader and defense minister Guadalupe Larriva, who died in February in an aerial accident.
Larriva was the first woman to serve as defense minister in Ecuador, but died after just nine days in the job.