TIME: Almanac 1995

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<text id=93CT1615> <title> Bolivia--History </title> <history> Compact ALMANAC--CIA Factbook South America Bolivia </history> <article> <source>CIA World Factbook</source> <hdr> History </hdr> <body> Between 100 B.C. and 900 A.D. Aymara Indians, living at the southern end of Lake Titicaca, produced a highly advanced culture now known from the ruins at Tiachuanacu. In about 1450, the Quechua-speaking Incas added the area of modern highland Bolivia to their efficient and rapidly expanding empire. They controlled the area until the Spanish conquest in 1525. During most of the Spanish colonial period; this territory (called "Upper Peru" or "Charcas") was ruled from the Viceroyalty of Peru, and the principal cities were Chuquisaco (now Sucre) and Potosi. Bolivian silver mines produced much of the Spanish Empire's wealth, and Potosi, site of the famed "mountain of silver," was for many years the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. As Spanish royal authority weakened during the Napoleonic wars, sentiment against colonial rule grew. Independence was proclaimed in 1809, but 16 years of struggle followed before the establishment of the Republic, named for Simon Bolivar, on August 6, 1825. Independence did not bring stability. For nearly 60 years, coups and short-lived constitutions dominated Bolivian politics. Preoccupied with remaining in office, few presidents were able to rule effectively. Bolivia's weakness was demonstrated during the War of the Pacific (1879-84) when it lost its seacoast and the adjoining rich nitrate fields to Chile. An increase in the world price of silver brought Bolivia a measure of prosperity and political stability in the late 1800s. During the early part of the 20th century, tin replaced silver as the country's most important source of wealth. Political parties that reflected the interests of the mine owners ruled until the 1930s with few outbreaks of violence. The lot of the Indians, who constituted most of the population, remained deplorable. Forced to work under primitive conditions in the mines and in nearly feudal status on large estates, they were denied access to education, economic opportunity, or political participation. Bolivia's defeat by Paraguay in the Chaco War (1932-1935) is generally considered a watershed in the country's history. Great loss of life and territory discredited the traditional ruling classes, while service in the army produced stirrings of political awareness among the Indians. From the end of the Chaco War until the 1952 revolution, the emergence of contending ideologies and the demands of new groups convulsed Bolivian politics. The National Revolutionary Movement (MNR) emerged from this ferment as Bolivia's most broadly based party. Denied its victory in the 1951 presidential elections, the MNR plotted a revolt. On April 11, 1952, the army surrendered after 3 days' fighting in La Paz, and Bolivia's social revolution began. Under the leadership of President Victor Paz Estenssoro and Hernan Siles Zuazo, the MNR introduced universal adult suffrage, carried out a sweeping land reform, promoted rural education, and nationalized the three great tin companies that for many years had strongly influenced Bolivia's political and economic life. Twelve years of tumultuous rule divided the MNR internally and reduced its public support. A military junta, led by Gen. Alfredo Ovando Candia and the Vice President, Rene Barrientos Ortuno, overthrew President Paz in November 1964 at the beginning of his third presidential term. The junta continued the MNR's basic policies, however. In 1966, (Gen. Barrientos campaigned for the presidency and won the election. During the latter's administration, Che Guevara, the famous guerrilla leader, was killed in eastern Bolivia while attempting unsuccessfully to foment a rebellion. Barrientos' death in a 1969 helicopter accident left a vacuum in Bolivian politics. Three varied governments lasted a total of 27 months. Alarmed by the failure of the last of these administrations to preserve social order, the armed forces, the MNR, and other political groups collaborated in its downfall and installed Col. (later Gen.) Hugo Banzer Suarez as president. Banzer ruled with the active support of the MNR and another political party from August 1971 to November 1974. Then, impatient with internal schisms in the governing coalition, he replaced the civilian politicans with members of the armed forces and suspended political and labor union activities. Although the economy grew impressively during Banzer's 7-year presidency, demands for greater political and labor freedoms undercut his support. His decision to call elections in 1978 lunged Bolivia into yet another period of turmoil. General elections in 1978, 1979, and 1980 were marked by varying degrees of fraud and the failure of any candidate to win a clear-cut majority. Meanwhile, coups, countercoups, and caretaker governments characterized political life. Former MNR President Hernan Siles Zuazo and his left-of-center political coalition received a plurality of the votes in the 1980 election, generally considered the most honest of the three pollings in 1978, 1979, and 1980. The military intervened, however, to prevent Siles from assuming the presidency. On July 17, 1980, Army Gen. Luis Garcia Meza Tejada carried out one of the most ruthless and violent of Bolivia's many coups. He declared the election results invalid, suspended Congress, prohibited political party activity, and curtailed the functioning of labor unions. His military government quickly became notorious for human rights abuses and involvement in narcotics trafficking, rampant administrative corruption, and poor economic management. A military rebellion forced Garcia Meza from office in August 1981. During the ensuing 14 months, three other governments of the armed forces tried to cope with Bolivia's expanding political and economic problems, and all failed. Increasing social unrest forced the military to convoke the Congress elected in 1980 and allow it to choose a new chief executive. On October 10, 1982, 22 years after his first term of office expired and 26 months after his second term should have-begun, Hernan Siles Zuazo was inaugurated president. Siles' electoral coalition (the Democratic and Popular Unity-UDP) consisted of his own National Revolutionary Movement of the Left (MNRI) and two smaller parties-the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) and the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB). The Christian Democratic Party agreed to participate with these three in forming a government, but in January 1983 six MlR ministers resigned in a policy dispute. The MIR, led by Siles' coalition partner and Vice President Jaime Paz Zamora, rejoined the government in late 1983. Increasing labor unrest and social tension, provoked by Siles' gross economic mismanagement and feckless leadership, forced Siles to agree to call national elections for mid-1985 and relinquish power on August 6, 1985, 1 year before the expiration of his constitutional term. A total of 1,680,370 votes was cast in the July 14, 1985 national and municipal elections, which were characterized by administrative irregularities and deficiencies but were not notoriously fraudulent. The Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) party of Gen. Banzer won a narrow plurality of the popular vote (32.8%), followed by 30.4% for Victor Paz Estenssoro's MNR, and 10.2% for former MIR Vice President Jaime Paz Zamora. Despite the ADN plurality of some 37,000 votes-because of the preference given to rural votes over urban votes in the apportionment of seats in Congress-the MNR won more legislative seats than the ADN. In the congressional run-off, the MIR cast its lot with the MNR, resulting in the election of the 77-year-old Paz Estenssoro to a fourth term in office. Source: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, October 1986. </body> </article> </text>