[1] He attended Mejía High School in Quito and the Escuela Superior Naval "Comandante Rafael Morán Valverde" and graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Náutica Manuel Belgrano (ESNN).

Poveda came to power through a military coup in 1976[2] and was appointed by the Supreme Council of Government as president.

The military government was known for its crackdown of dissent and was particularly noted for its handling of the October 1977 sugar workers' strike at El Aztra, which resulted to the death of 100 individuals.

[2] Upon return to a democratic system Admiral Poveda withdrew from public life and took residency in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

While returning to Ecuador after a conference in Russia, he died from a myocardial infarction during a layover in Miami, Florida.