[2] The government of President Jaime Roldós Aguilera (1979–1981) appointed Pareja as Chancellor of the Republic and he also served as Foreign Minister of Ecuador (1979–1980) and Ambassador to France (1983–1984).

In 1927 Pareja and Jorge Pérez Concha founded the magazine Voluntad in collaboration with Leopoldo Benites Vinueza, but they published only six issues.

As a result of the Great Depression, he worked on the New York City docks for a year (his later novel El Muelle (The Pier, 1933) reflects these experiences).

Between August 1979 and July 1980, during the government of President Jaime Roldós Aguilera, Pareja was appointed to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Rather, he sought to simply and directly depict social conditions that called for redress, while denouncing those in power who were guilty of corruption and injustice.

Other major literary influences included the Greek classics, Balzac, Dostoievski, Thomas Mann, Will Durant and Arnold Toynbee.

Pareja's cycle of narrative fiction was marked by realism and a strong connection with the history of his country (El muelle ["The Pier"], 1933; Hombres sin tiempo ["Men Without Time"], 1941; Las tres ratas [The Three Rats], 1944).

Having established a reputation as a writer both inside and outside of Ecuador, in 1944 he published an important biographical novel, The Barbaric Bonfire, about the actions and historical circumstances surrounding the life and death of General Eloy Alfaro.

Pareja maintained a long association with the famous "Guayaquil Group" of Ecuadorian writers (José de la Cuadra, Joaquín Gallegos Lara, Demetrio Aguilera Malta, Enrique Gil Gilbert).

President Galo Plaza Lasso worked with Pareja in educational projects after World War II around the globe, mostly in Central and South America.