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33-532: The Left-wing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement was founded by Hernán Siles Zuazo , a leader of the leftist sector of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement . He had earlier been vice-president (1951), had led a revolution (1952) and had been president (1956–1960); he had been in exile in 1946–1951 and 1964–1978. In 1971, a leader of MNR Víctor Paz Estenssoro supported the far-Right coup triggered by Colonel Hugo Banzer Suárez , and

66-521: A French prison. By 1985 the government's impotence prompted Congress to call early elections, citing the fact that Siles had been originally elected five long years before. His old rival, MNR's Víctor Paz Estenssoro was elected president, and Siles left for Uruguay, a country where he had lived before in exile and for which he held special affection. He died in Montevideo , Uruguay in August 1996 at

99-537: A failed military coup. 60 members of the army and police force sought to bring about a coup. According to the Bolivian government, members of the elite narcotics unit, the Leopardos, were involved in the abduction. The commanding officer of the unit was arrested. The economic situation was dire, with growing hyperinflation . Siles had great difficulty in controlling the situation, and received scant support from

132-674: A group of technocrats. In the long run the Palaciego and Siglo XX factions prevailed. Owing to Hernán Siles Zuazo 's deteriorating health, the Left-wing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement gradually disappeared. Most of its militants joined other parties, mainly the Revolutionary Left Movement and Revolutionary Nationalist Movement . Hern%C3%A1n Siles Zuazo Hernán Siles Zuazo (21 March 1914 – 6 August 1996)

165-435: A leader of the resistance against a tyrannical government. In the 1951 elections Paz Estenssoro run for presidency with Siles as his vice-presidential running mate, and won the contest with 42.9% of the vote. However, the ultra-conservative government of Mamerto Urriolagoitía refused to recognize the results and instead turned over the presidency to the commander of the Bolivian army, general Hugo Ballivián . At that point

198-459: A winner, the army launched the bloody coup of 17 July 1980, which installed a reactionary (and cocaine-tainted) dictatorship of General Luis García Meza . Siles escaped to exile in Peru by crossing Lake Titicaca on a boat. He returned in 1982, when the military's experiment had run its course and the Bolivian economy was on the verge of collapse. With its reputation badly damaged by the excesses of

231-780: The Communist Party of Bolivia withdrew its backing in November 1984. By 1985 the Hernán Siles Zuazo regime was opposed by the left, the army, the unions and the peasantry, and early elections (in June) revealed the extent of its unpopularity: the MNRI won only 8 seats, as against 57 won by the UDP in 1980, and the MNRI presidential candidate, Roberto Jordan Pando , won only 05.48% votes, coming fourth. A split in 1980 established

264-556: The Falange Socialista Boliviana party schemed to topple the MNR from power, causing a rather disproportionate repressive backlash that diminished MNR's (and Siles') popularity. After the end of Siles' term in 1960, Estenssoro again ran for president in 1960 elections and, upon being elected, sent Siles as ambassador to Uruguay until 1963 and as ambassador to Spain (1963–64). In 1964 Siles broke with Estrassoro over

297-836: The Leftwing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement – 1 ; a minor a peasant sector. When Hernán Siles Zuazo became president, splits in the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement of the Left were already very visible. At least three factions were identifiable: the “Palaciego”, which surrounded Hernán Siles Zuazo ; the MNRI-Legalista, which in 1983 joined the opposition in National Congress; and the Leftwing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement – 20th Century ,

330-556: The 1978 democratic opening, Siles returned to Bolivia and formed a grand alliance of the left with the Revolutionary Left Movement , the Communist Party, and others. Together, they formed the Democratic and Popular Union (UDP), which triumphed in the 1978 , 1979 , and 1980 general elections, mostly as a result of a serious erosion of support for Estenssoro. The 1978 election was annulled due to massive fraud in favor of

363-479: The 1980 election results. On 5 October, it overwhelmingly elected Siles as president. He was sworn into his second term on 10 October, with the MIR's Jaime Paz as his vice-president. In 1983, Siles Zuazo reopened relations with Cuba after the relationship ended twenty years previous. Cuban doctors began reorganizing the Bolivian health system. On 30 June 1984 he was abducted from his home and held for ten hours during

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396-465: The 1980 military coup prevented his inauguration as president. He returned from exile (in Peru ) on 8 October 1982, and two days later was confirmed as president by the reconvened Congress. The Democratic and Popular Union coalition government was increasingly dominated by the MNRI, with the Revolutionary Left Movement withdrawing its support from January 1983 to April 1984, and again from December 1984;

429-562: The 1980–82 dictatorship, the military faced two options—call new elections, or accept the 1980 results. By this time, however, it was obvious that the country would crumble into civil war before new elections could be held. Under the circumstances, the military announced in September 1982 that to spare the expense of new elections and avoid further unrest, it would reconvene the legislature elected in 1980 and accept whomever it chose as president. Congress reconvened on 23 September and reconfirmed

462-461: The Ballivián government, Siles served as provisional president from 11 April 1952 until 16 April 1952, when Estenssoro returned from exile. The 1951 electoral results were upheld, and Paz Estenssoro became constitutional president of Bolivia with Siles as his vice-president. During the MNR's first 4 years in the office, the government instituted far-reaching reforms, including the establishment of

495-614: The MNR became officially a member of the regime, along with the party's traditional enemy, the Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB). Víctor Paz Estenssoro 's entry into the pro- Hugo Banzer Nationalist Popular Front with the FSB provoked Hernán Siles Zuazo 's formal exit from the party, to form the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement of the Left. The MNRI sought the establishment of a government "truly representative of workers and peasants"; an end to "fratricidal struggles";

528-468: The MNR party went underground and on 9–11 April 1952 led the historic Bolivian National Revolution , aided by defections from the armed forces to the rebel cause (key among which was general Antonio Seleme). Siles played a major role in the revolutionary uprising, along with Juan Lechín , since the MNR leader Paz Estenssoro was at the time in exile in Argentina. Having defeated the military and toppled

561-627: The Republican Party. Platform of Republican Party was preoccupied with the recovery of Bolivia's lost maritime territories and typically demanded more morality in government, but its program differed little from traditional Liberal slogans. In 1917, the Republicans ran presidential candidate but were defeated in the Liberal-controlled elections. Republican Party grabbed power in a bloodless coup on 12 July 1920. After

594-705: The Siles administration was the 1983 extradition to France of the Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie , known as the Butcher of Lyon. He had been living in Bolivia since the late 1950s or early 1960s, after being smuggled out of Europe with the assistance of the United States, and was often employed by the 1964–82 dictatorships as an interrogation specialist. Following his extradition he was condemned for his crimes and died in

627-491: The age of 82. Republican Party (Bolivia) The Republican Party ( Spanish : Partido Republicano , PR) was a Bolivian political party founded in 1914. In 1914, the Liberal Party ( Partido Liberal , PL) split and its leading intellectuals and statesmen – Bautista Saavedra Mallea , Daniel Domingo Salamanca Urey , José María Escalier  [ Wikidata ] and General José Manuel Pando – created

660-525: The difficult issue of disarming the worker and miner militia members who had fought in the 1952 Revolution and who had been allowed to keep their weapons. They had served as a useful counterbalance to the possibility of a conservative or military coup against the Revolution, but were by now serving the growing ambitions of the head of the Bolivian Workers' Center (COB) Juan Lechín . Meanwhile,

693-422: The fourth largest ever recorded in the world. Still, Siles refused to adopt extra-constitutional measures, preferring instead to consolidate the hard-earned Bolivian democracy regardless of the personal cost to him. He even went on a hunger strike as a desperate way to gain public sympathy. Finally, he agreed to shorten his own term and Congress moved the presidential election forward by a year. One bright point in

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726-462: The island prison of Isla de la Luna (Coati) on lake Titicaca . In September 1949, he escapes from the island prison together with a number of fellow political prisoners and, with Bolivian police in hot pursuit, is able to reach Peru, where he is granted political asylum. In October 9, 1949, he returns clandestinely to Bolivia and appears in the Bolivian congress at his assigned bench demanding his back pay--this public relations coup cements his image as

759-461: The latter's decision to run for another consecutive term. Siles initially supported the November 1964 coup d'état by vice-president, General René Barrientos and army chief Alfredo Ovando — but was later exiled when it became apparent that the military intended to manipulate 1966 electoral results to perpetuate itself in power. Except for a five-month interlude during which his half-brother held

792-413: The official military candidate, General Juan Pereda , though exit polls showed Siles would have won handily had the election been conducted honestly. The 1979 contest remained inconclusive because no candidate received 50% of the vote, and Congress elected Wálter Guevara a temporary president. Siles finished first in 1980, but came up short of a majority. Days before Congress was due to convene to choose

825-412: The political parties or members of Congress, most of whom were eager to flex their political muscles after so many years of military authoritarianism. The unions, led by their old leader Juan Lechín , paralyzed the government with constant strikes, and even the vice-president, Jaime Paz, deserted the sinking ship when Siles' popularity sank to an all-time low. The 1982–86 hyperinflation would end up being

858-506: The presidency, the armed forces remained in control of the Presidential Palacio Quemado until 1982. In 1971 Siles opposed the right-wing coup of general Hugo Banzer , prompting an irreversible break with Estenssoro, who supported the coup. In 1971 Siles formed the Leftwing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario de Izquierda , MNRI), beginning a steady leftwards drift. After

891-549: The suppression of the drug trade, and the renegotiation of foreign debt. The Left-wing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement was the leading force in the Democratic and Popular Union , formed in April 1978 and including the Revolutionary Left Movement and the Communist Party of Bolivia (PCB), and in mid-1979. In the presidential elections of 1978 Hernán Siles Zuazo , as the UDP candidate, came second with 25.00%, and of 1979 and 1980 he came first with 35.97 and 38.74 per cent, and only

924-546: The universal vote, nationalization of the largest mining concerns in the country, and the adoption of a major agrarian reform. In 1956 Estenssoro left the office, as the Bolivian Constitution forbade a sitting president from running for another consecutive term. Siles, his logical successor, easily won the elections of 1956 and became President of the Republic on 6 August 1956. The first Siles' administration

957-410: Was a Bolivian politician who served as the 46th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1956 to 1960 and from 1982 to 1985. He also briefly served as interim president in April 1952, and as the 27th vice president of Bolivia from 1952 to 1956. Hernán Siles was the illegitimate son of the last Republican Party president of Bolivia, Hernando Siles Reyes and Isabel Zuazo Cusicanqui. Siles

990-584: Was elected in the Chamber of Deputies. Gravitating toward the reformist side of the political spectrum (even though his father had been one of the pillars of the Old Regime), in 1941 he founded along with Víctor Paz Estenssoro and others, the influential Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario, or MNR). The MNR was behind the coup that installed the progressive military administration of Gualberto Villarroel (1943–46), but

1023-425: Was forced from power due to U.S. pressure and also by Villarroel's overthrow in 1946 after which Siles was exiled to Argentina. There he worked as a correspondent for Associated Press from November 1947 until September 1948. In 1949, Siles returns to Bolivia to stand for election to the Bolivian legislature, which he wins. However, he is soon arrested for continuing agitation against the government in power and sent to

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1056-615: Was more contentious and difficult than revolutionary Estenssoro's had been. During this time MNR began to fragment along personal lines and due to growing disagreements over policy. The economy was in deep trouble, as food and mineral production had plummeted; consequently, inflation soared, and the United States conditioned any further aid and support on the adoption of an economic program of its own prescription (the so-called Eder plan ) in late 1956. Siles accepted these conditions, receiving North American aid in return for cutting government expenses and social programs. Siles also had to tackle

1089-664: Was raised by his mother. His half-brother Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas was president for five months in 1969. In 1931 Siles graduated from the American Institute in La Paz. He served in Bolivian army and was decorated for injury sustained while fighting in the Chaco War of 1932–35. After the war he finished San Andres University with a degree in law. Siles was married to Maria Teresa Ormachea del Carpio and had three daughters, Marcela, Ana Maria and Isabel. In 1940 Siles

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