Bolivian history
The history of Bolivia is divided into various periods ranging from the beginning of human settlement of the current territory of Bolivia, to the present day.
In Bolivia there are archaeological signs of human occupation from 12,000-10,000 BC. C. at the Viscachani Site. Until 1200 BC. C. sedentary cultures develop in the highlands. As of this date, the Chiripa and Wankarani cultures are the two most important of the formative period.
Pre-Hispanic period
In Bolivia there are remains of human occupation from 12,000-10,000 BC. C. at the Viscachani Site. Until 1200 a. C. sedentary cultures develop in the highlands. The Chiripa and Wankarani these were dominated by the Inca context that existed at that time are the two most important of the formative period from 1200 a. C..
The Tiwanaku culture, near Lake Titicaca, marks a moment of cultural flourishing in the altiplanic zone, extending its influence throughout the Andean area. This culture was once considered the "cradle of American civilizations". The archaeological complex, currently declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is located in the department of La Paz, just over an hour from from the city, and in the surroundings of Lake Titicaca.
Around 1100 Tiwanaku disappeared and there was a fight between the different groups that inhabited the region: Aymaras, (Bolivia), Lupacas and Pacajes. The Aymaras establish a domain that encompasses Arequipa and Puno in Peru, La Paz, Oruro and Cochabamba, which lasted until, in 1438, the Inca Pachacútec defeated the last Aymara sovereign, Chunqui Cápac, incorporating the Bolivian highlands into the Inca Empire (Tahuantinsuyo), as part of the Collasuyo province, and imposing Quechua as the official language, although Aymara continued to be spoken regularly. The Inca Empire adopted Tiwanakota architectural styles and other knowledge.
Southern Arawak populations, like the Moxos, settled on the plains of Moxos, and in the pampas and valleys of Santa Cruz. The latter developed the Chané culture, which stood out for its ceramics, stone and clay engravings. The Chanés were Neolithic farmers who lived in densely populated villages and in which they left numerous archaeological sites (mainly tombs with ceramics and tools) in Portachuelo, Okinawa, Cotoca, Warnes, Mairana, Valle Abajo, Samaipata, Pampa Grande and El Pari. These peoples built the temple on the rock that dominates the archaeological complex of El Fuerte in Samaipata. Which originally was not a fort but a temple carved on the rock with typical engravings of the Arawak tribes that inhabited the region. The Samaipata fort was the first archaeological center in Bolivia to be declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
The Inca Huayna Cápac ordered the construction of fortresses on the eastern border to stop the advance of the Guarani hordes that were invading the valleys and pampas of Santa Cruz. The Incas managed to advance to these regions and agreed with the Chanés for a common defense against the Guaraní invasions. During the Inca period, a city was built next to the temple built by the Chanés. This city was the main Inca building in the region. The Samaipata archaeological complex, located in the department of Santa Cruz, is one of the most important archaeological remains in the region, currently more than 50 buildings have been discovered within it. Both the Incas and the Chanes were defeated by the constant invasions of the Guarani, who finally dominated the region even during a good part of the Spanish colony when Sánchez Ceren made the conquest.
One of the ancient Andean cultures existing today is the Kallawaya, located in the inter-Andean valleys of Charazani in the department of La Paz. His important knowledge has made the Kallawaya Pharmacopoeia become the largest in the world[citation required], which is why, recently (2003) UNESCO has declared the Kallawa Culture as a Masterpiece and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Other ancient Andean cultures of great importance are the Urus and Chipayas of the department of Oruro, of which their knowledge in the art of fishing and housing construction stands out.
Other archaeological and cultural remains from the Bolivian lowlands in the eastern zone are less well known. However, it highlights the complexity of the remains of canals, embankments and ridges developed by the Hydraulic Culture of Las Lomas, the largest in the American continent, in the plains of Moxos and Baures currently located in the department of Beni. In the department of Santa Cruz there are archaeological ruins of not very well determined antiquity that would correspond to three main groups (1) Velasco Province, (2) surroundings of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and (3) the cave paintings of Santiago. All these regions were originally populated by Arahuca cultures.
The Conquest
The conquest of the Inca Empire by Francisco Pizarro paved the way for the subjugation of present-day Bolivia in the year 1535 and the establishment of the Royal Audience of Charcas, an essential part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which encompassed all that is today the Bolivian territory. Although the history of Bolivia in the viceroyalty period has been closely linked to Peru, being known by the name of Alto Peru.
The origin of the division of both territories is due to the capitulations of Carlos V, revised in 1534, which assigned Pizarro two hundred and sixty leagues from Tumbes to the south, and another two hundred to Diego de Almagro to the south of these. Juan de Saavedra, in advance of Diego de Almagro, arrived in 1535 at Lake Titicaca and the valley of La Paz, to later found the cities of Paria (Oruro) and Tupiza in 1536 to the south. After Almagro died, Francisco Pizarro sent his brother Gonzalo Pizarro to colonize the province of Collao. Pedro de Anzúrez founded Chuquisaca (now Sucre) in 1538, Potosí arose in 1546, La Paz in 1548, and Cochabamba in 1574.
The colonizing current of the Río de La Plata expanded into the territory of what is now Bolivia, with the founding of Santa Cruz in 1561. A group of Spaniards from Asunción del Paraguay and Buenos Aires headed by Ñuflo de Chaves and accompanied by Itatin allies conquered the region, the former founded Santa Cruz on the shores of the Sutó mountain range and the latter settled in the north in the region today known as Guarayos. This border city served as a Spanish mark of containment to the constant attacks of Portuguese bandeirantes who invaded the region from the São Paulo region, capturing indigenous people for labor in the Portuguese colonies, and the constant stalking of the Guarani who attacked the southeastern border of the Alto Peru mining region.
The continental subtropical climate, the lack of indigenous labor, the absence of mines and great wealth, and the constant attack by the Guarani made Santa Cruz of little interest to Spanish migration. To counteract this and ensure that this isolated region is populated by loyalists to the crown, a tax was released on its inhabitants, pardons were given to persecuted groups (mainly Jewish converts, but also some runaways, gypsies and mercenaries), in addition freedom was given and encomiendas in favor of mestizos and even indigenous people, which was not allowed in other regions of the colony. Santa Cruz remained an agricultural, cattle-raising culture isolated from the mining boom of Upper Peru, but it grew in population and its inhabitants founded other important towns and cities throughout the Chaco-Beniana plain and the southwestern valleys (Vallegrande, Portachuelo, Trinidad, Charagua, Cuevo, Samaipata, San Ignacio, Riberalta and others).
For its part, Upper Peru was characterized by having a mining-agricultural base. The city of Potosí, the most populous city in America in 1574 (120,000 inhabitants), became a great mining center due to the exploitation of the silver mines of Cerro Rico de Potosí and in 1611 it was the largest producer of silver in the world. King Carlos I had granted this city the title of imperial villa after its foundation.
As an additional cushion of Spanish presence before the Portuguese advance, the crown allowed the establishment of Jesuit missions to the north and east of Santa Cruz in the regions of Moxos and Chiquitos. These missions were very successful and important and advanced centers were established both culturally and economically. These territories belonged to the governorate of Santa Cruz and the missionaries were mostly from central Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Hungary). As witnesses of the level of development of these mission centers are the Chiquitos Missions (San Javier, Concepción, San Miguel, San Rafael, San José and Santa Ana) all in Santa Cruz and were declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
The Audience of Charcas
One of the most important institutions of the colonial government of America were the Royal Courts, the bodies dedicated to carrying out judicial functions. The Audiencia de Charcas was the highest legal authority in the territory of Upper Peru SIG, Tucumán, Río de la Plata and Paraguay. It had its headquarters in the city of Chuquisaca, also called then La Plata and currently Sucre.
The Royal Audience of Charcas was created by Decree of King Felipe II on September 18, 1559 and its limits were set by Decree of August 29, 1563. It had five judges, a president and some junior officials. The President of the Royal Audience of Charcas was also Captain General of La Plata, a position equivalent to that of a governor, and therefore also had administrative powers.
For a little over 200 years, the territory of present-day Bolivia constituted the Royal Audience of Charcas, one of the most prosperous and densely populated centers of the Spanish viceroyalties. In the last decades of the 18th century, Potosí, the most important city in the western hemisphere of the Spanish Empire, began to decline until forgotten as the richest veins of silver were exhausted and trade diverted to other countries.
In 1776 the Royal Audience of Charcas, which belonged to the Viceroyalty of Peru, became dependent on the new Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata, based in Buenos Aires.
War of Independence (1809-1825)
The Independence of Upper Peru was a revolutionary process closely linked to the emergence of the Argentine State and the subsequent independence from Spain. To contain the independence advance promoted by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the Viceroy of Peru José Fernando de Abascal provisionally reinstated the Royal Audience of Charcas to his authority, as it had been until 1776, and deployed a powerful army over it.. Clarifying the viceroy in the decree of annexation that he did: until the rightful command of him is reestablished. Lord Viceroy of Buenos-Aires, and other legally constituted authorities, since only the royal authority could definitively dismember the territory of the Viceroyalty of Buenos Aires. Between 1810 and 1826 Upper Peru was the scene of endless combats and battles between the Peruvian and Upper Peruvian royalists and the Argentine and Upper Peruvian patriots, who would be added after Peruvian independence by the patriots of Peru and Gran Colombia who would try to extend independence in the territories that would remain under royalist control until after the battle of Ayacucho.
Consolidation of the Republic (1825-1841)
Since its emancipation on August 6, 1825, Bolivia plunged into a chronic state of revolutions, military uprisings, terrible internal struggles and bloody civil wars for a long period of 55 years (more than half a century) that brought as a consequence the political instability that lasted practically until the year 1880. But it would be in the first 16 years of the Republic where the young nation was truly in danger due to constant external threats that put its own independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity at risk.
Government of Simón Bolívar (1825)
Entry of Bolívar to Bolivia
After the Battle of Ayacucho that took place in December 1824 in Peru, where the independence side defeated the last Spanish troops settled in South America, the Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar entered Bolivian territory on August 14, 1825 crossing with his troops the Desaguadero River that currently delimits the border between Bolivia and Peru. It is worth mentioning that during the short time that his government lasted for just four months, Bolívar spent his time traveling throughout the country on a grand tour of all the main cities of Bolivia at that time. It began in Desaguadero, arriving four days later in the city of La Paz, then departed for the city of Oruro and from there went to the city of Potosí where he fulfilled his promise to climb the famous Cerro Rico to fly the flag of the freedom at the tip of said place. From there he went to the city of La Plata (current Sucre) and then visited Cochabamba and then finally left the country in January 1826 bound for Tacna. It is worth mentioning that during his long tour of the country, the different towns came out to receive him en masse to thank him for his fight against the Spanish Empire.
Creation of the first national flag and emblem
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During his government and by means of a supreme decree, Bolívar established the First National Flag of Bolivia, which was made up of 2 colors, green and red, that was upright and divided into three stripes. Five ovals composed of olive and laurel branches were placed in the center of the flag, and a golden star in the center (representing the five departments that made up Bolivia when it was founded in 1825). A short time later the Constituent Assembly would approve the flag of Simón Bolívar.
Elimination of the Indigenous Tax and the national currency
During his presidency, Bolívar created the general accounting office for the administration of public funds. He was concerned about the peasant population of the country by eliminating the "indigenous tribute" on December 22, 1825 and also prohibiting indigenous people from being forcibly forced to provide services against their own will as they used to do during Spanish rule. Likewise, Bolívar abolished the indigenous cacigazco which had been created during the colony. Regarding the maritime issue, Bolívar renamed the Port of Cobija (which at that time was the main Bolivian seaport that connected it to the world) and named it "Puerto La Mar" in homage to the Ecuadorian general José de La Mar who had also fought against the Spanish crown.
On August 17, 1825, the Assembly created the national currency under the name "Peso" (maintaining the colonial name). Said Peso was divided into "8 Soles" (thus eliminating the previous colonial denomination of "Reales"). In turn, Bolívar was also concerned about the issue of education and commissioned the prestigious teacher Simón Rodríguez to prepare and develop an educational project that would be applied throughout the country. Faced with the need to move to the city of Lima to inaugurate the Peruvian Congress, Bolívar delegated command of the nation to the young marshal Antonio José de Sucre on December 29, 1825.
Government of Antonio José de Sucre (1825-1828)
Although by means of laws, Simón Bolívar had managed to establish the main legal bases of the new nation in Bolivia, it is worth mentioning that the government of Mariscal Sucre was characterized by being mainly concerned with reactivating the country's economy, sustaining a policy of revolutionary reforms which meant a very substantial change in all strata of Bolivian society.
After the 16 long years of war (1809-1825) for the Independence of Bolivia, the new country was in a very delicate economic and financial situation, mining which had been one of the main economic pillars of Bolivia for During the colonial period, it fell by almost 50% as production had drastically decreased from 350,000 silver marks per year in 1803 to only produce 200,000 silver marks by 1825. In turn, in 1826 only 15 mining mills were operating. when in the year 1800 at least 40 mining mills were operating at full capacity, likewise many farmers had abandoned their fields of crops to enlist in the patriot troops that fought the Spanish where several of them came to die in combat happening Also the same with the mine workers that once the war of independence ended, around 10,000 mines had been completely abandoned.
The coffers of the public treasury with which the Bolivian state was born to independent life showed a completely terrible and desolate panorama as a result of the war. The situation had reached such an extreme that by the year 1827, around almost 40% of the entire general budget of the state came only from the "Indigenous Tribute".
Economic reforms and replacement of the Indigenous Tax
Once in power, Sucre created the first two ministries of the country: the Army (which would later be called War) and the Government and Treasury, with which he was able to better organize Bolivia's public finances. To carry out his economic reforms, he gave priority to statistics, since his government demanded detailed and detailed information on all finances (income and expenses) of the 5 departments of Bolivia. With this he regulated the contributions, founding the public credit.
Sucre was also concerned with education and health, establishing several schools, colleges and hospitals as well as jails for people deprived of liberty. He eliminated the old colonial demarcation and carried out a new territorial organization of Bolivia, dividing it into departments, provinces and cantons. In order to comply with his reforms, Sucre had to restitute the "Indigenous Tribute" again through a law that the Bolivian Congress approved on August 2, 1826 and incidentally later wrote to Simón Bolívar a bitter letter in which he explained and made him know that he had no other alternative than his reinstatement since said tribute was still very essential and important for the national treasury.
Confiscations from the Church and equipment from the army
During his government, Mariscal Sucre had tense relations with the Catholic Church, because to balance the patrimony of the Bolivian state he came to confiscate real estate from the church, seized tithes, expelled regular orders (with the exception of the Franciscans), seized buildings that belonged to religious communities and appropriated silver objects for worship, ordering the great lamp of the Sanctuary of Copacabana to be melted down to issue currency. In addition, Sucre closed many nunneries, reducing them to a minimum and allocating those religious places to be used as barracks and schools. Among other of his government measures, Sucre decreed the emancipation of slaves and proclaimed freedom of the press.
Regarding foreign policy, Sucre signed a territorial boundary treaty with Peru on December 31, 1826 to define the border between the two countries. It is worth mentioning that during his government, in 1825 the Empire of Brazil invaded the far east of the country, occupying the province of Chiquitos. At that time, Mariscal Sucre sent a letter to the Emperor of Brazil asking them to vacate the place. With no interest in Chiquitos, the Brazilians return to their country. Antonio José de Sucre, who ruled as second president until 1828, the year in which a series of revolts made him resign from the presidential command.
In defense policy, Mariscal Sucre implanted in the army the teaching of basic literacy and arithmetic courses for the sergeants and soldiers of the troop. On January 1, 1827, he promulgated the first & # 34; Organic Law of the Armed Forces & # 34; which was made up of an Army of the Line and a Squad (Navy). In turn, he acquired a loan to buy enough arms and ammunition for the defense of the new nation, in addition to making uniforms for the troops. It is worth mentioning that for the defense of the new nation, Sucre had managed to buy 8,000 rifles for Bolivia, of which some 3,000 were distributed among all the military units (also including the Colombian troops that had been based in Bolivia since 1825) and the others. remaining 5,000 were stored in warehouses.
Colombian mutiny of April 18 and Sucre's resignation
On April 18, 1828, the Colombian troops with whom Sucre had entered Bolivian territory in February 1825 and who, even after three years of the country's independence, were still settled in Bolivia, mutinied in the city de Sucre against the marshal's government on the grounds that the Bolivian state had not paid what was owed to them. To appease and try to calm things down, Mariscal Sucre went to the city of Plata to start a dialogue with the mutineers, but his attempt was in vain, since the rebel troops shot at Sucre's physical integrity, seriously injuring him. on his right arm.
Not being able to hold the presidential position anymore due to his complicated and delicate state of health after being attacked by Colombian troops, Antonio José de Sucre delegated command of the nation to his war minister José María Pérez de Urdininea who at the same time he also served at that time as head of the council of ministers.
Government of José María Pérez de Urdininea (1828)
Without a doubt, José María Pérez de Urdininea had to face one of the most difficult moments in the new country that was besieged by its main neighbor; Peru.
The President of Peru José de La Mar seeing the political instability of the country and taking advantage of the delicate state of health of Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre who delegated power to the interim government of José María Pérez, decided to invade Bolivian territory with the objective to annex Bolivia to Peru. To achieve this, La Mar prepared an invading military force of 5,000 men under the command of the Cuzco general Agustín Gamarra who, after crossing the Desaguadero River with his troops, occupied the city of La Paz, the city of Oruro and advanced near the city of Cochabamba.. Unfortunately, Pérez de Urdininea did not act decisively to face the foreign invasion. Instead, the Bolivian general Pedro Blanco Soto who was the second commander in command of the Bolivian army had become a supporter and follower of the ideas of the Peruvian general Agustín Gamarra to annex Bolivian territory to Peru and joined him. President Pérez de Urdininea, furious at the betrayal and instead of facing the invading army, instead ordered Pedro Blanco Soto to be pursued, thus leaving Gamarra's Peruvian troops full freedom of action.
Treaty of Piquiza
Finally, due to the inaction of the Bolivian army and already with the invading army near the gates of the city of Sucre, General Gamarra imposed his conditions on Bolivia in the Treaty of Piquiza that the country was forced to sign on the 6th of July 1828, before the serious Peruvian threat. Said treaty stipulated the immediate departure of the Colombian troops that had been in Bolivia since 1825, the convening of an assembly to accept the definitive resignation from the presidency of Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre, the appointment of a new provisional government and finally the abolition of the political constitution of the state for life that Simón Bolívar had left to Bolivia in 1826.
On August 2, 1828, the new Assembly decided to accept the resignation of Marshal Sucre and elected Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz y Calahumana as President of Bolivia, who at that time was the ambassador of Peru in Chile and was also elected as Vice President of Bolivia to General José Miguel de Velasco. It is worth mentioning that before leaving the country, Sucre left a last and emotional farewell letter for the Bolivian population, which among its final paragraphs said the following:
"I will still ask for another prize to the nation and its administrators, not to destroy the work of my creation; to keep the Independence of Bolivia from all dangers."Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre and Alcala, President of Bolivia from 1825 to 1828 (Sucre, 2 August 1828).
This profound message from Sucre was forever engraved in the memory, heart and soul of Bolivians, which later served to reject future invasions of Bolivian territory or foreign claims to annex Bolivia to other countries.
Governments of José Miguel de Velasco and Pedro Blanco (1828-1829)
After the signing of the Treaty of Piquiza and the subsequent resignation and departure from the country of Marshal Sucre, the congress decided to give the interim presidency of Bolivia to General José Miguel de Velasco from Santa Cruz while the nation awaited the arrival of Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz and Calahumana to assume command of the country. But it is worth mentioning that the Treaty of Piquiza and the election of the Bolivian congress of August 1828 had not fully satisfied Peruvian aspirations. The influence of the allies that the Peruvian general Agustín Gamarra had in Bolivia, forced to gather a new congress in December 1828 and which this time truly responded to the Peruvian interests that tried to annex Bolivia to Peru.
On December 18, 1828, a military uprising led by Bolivian General José Ramón de Loayza (Pro-Peruvian) managed to overthrow José Miguel de Velasco from power. Subsequently, the new congress formed in December of that year decided to appoint Pedro Blanco Soto as President of Bolivia and José Ramón Loayza as Vice President of Bolivia. While the arrival of Blanco Soto was awaited in the city of La Plata (city of Sucre), General Loayza took command of the nation for 8 days. Finally Blanco took office in the presidential office on December 26, 1828, but his government would be one of the shortest in Bolivia, as it only lasted just 5 days.
On January 1, 1829, a group of Bolivian soldiers, including Mariano Armaza, Manuel Vera, and José Ballivián, rose up against President Pedro Blanco Soto, overthrowing and assassinating him in the early morning of January 1, 1829. Before the tragic death of Blanco, the Bolivian congress proceeded to re-elect Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz. While awaiting the arrival of Santa Cruz in the country, General José Miguel de Velasco once again assumed the presidency on an interim basis.
Government of Andrés de Santa Cruz (1829-1839)
After a few months of political instability, the National Assembly finally decided to elect marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz as provisional president on January 31, 1829. Santa Cruz became one of the central figures of Bolivia's independent period when it was constituted in the main forger and organizer of the Bolivian State, as well as computer and instructor in Napoleonic tactics of the Bolivian Army.
Departing from Santiago de Chile and passing through the cities of Arequipa and Puno, Santa Cruz finally reached Bolivian territory on May 19, 1829, arriving in the city of La Paz where he was warmly received and acclaimed by the Bolivian people as the savior of the country On May 24 of that same year, he was sworn in before the prefect of La Paz, General José Ballivián. It is worth mentioning that when Santa Cruz arrived in Bolivia, he found a totally disorganized country, seriously affected by the misrule produced after the forced departure of Marshal Antonio José de Sucre and by the invasion of Peruvian General Agustín Gamarra from Peru, in addition to the fact that the country It was almost in an economic disaster because of the payment that the Assembly of 1825 had committed to the Colombian army that accompanied Antonio José de Sucre to Bolivia. To raise the country, Santa Cruz immediately got to work, establishing a very rigorous order that gave him the ability to dissolve the congress if he believed it was necessary.
Regarding educational policy, Santa Cruz, concerned about the country's education, founded the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) in 1830 in the city of La Paz and the Universidad Mayor de San Simón (UMSS) in the city of Cochabamba in 1832. He created schools and colleges of arts and trades in addition to establishing appropriate rules for the education of children.
The Codes "Santa Cruz#34;
Until before Santa Cruz came to power, in Bolivia the old Spanish codes were still being applied in judicial matters, some of which were already obsolete for the time. To modernize Bolivian justice, Andrés de Santa Cruz appointed a legal commission that was in charge of implementing in the country the Civil Code, the Penal Code and the Code of Procedures in 1831 and then the Commercial Code and the Mining Code in 1834. With This Bolivia became the most modern and orderly republic in South America as far as its law is concerned, even being an example for other countries on the continent. It should be noted that the tenor of these first codes was modern and based above all on French liberalism, expressed in the Napoleonic codes, thus guaranteeing property, liberalism and the rights of each citizen.
Peru-Bolivian Confederation
The effectiveness of the reformed army became evident when President Orbegoso of Peru asked Santa Cruz for help to recover political and territorial power in his country. Bolivian troops defeat the insurgent Felipe Salaverry, and Orbegoso, in exchange for military aid, agrees to form the Peru-Bolivian Confederation that begins in 1837 with Mariscal Santa Cruz as its Protector and made up of the North Peruvian and South Peruvian states. and Bolivia.
Bolivia experienced its heyday of greatest splendor during the presidency of Mariscal Andrés de Santa Cruz. This period was characterized by great economic development and political and social progress, the greatest in Bolivian history. However, the Peru-Bolivian Confederation fails to consolidate because Chile, the Argentine Confederation and Peruvians opposed to Santa Cruz oppose its formation. Between 1837 and 1839, the War against the Peru-Bolivian Confederation broke out. In the first phase of the war, the Confederation was victorious against the Argentine-Chilean invasion, producing the withdrawal of the enemy forces and the signing of the Treaty of Paucarpata. In the second phase, the Restoring United Army made up of Chileans and Peruvians opposed to Santa Cruz, the Battle of Yungay took place, which defined the dissolution of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation in 1839 and the overthrow of Santa Cruz.
The forces of the governor of Buenos Aires Juan Manuel de Rosas also intervened against the Confederation for being a refuge for his political opponents, the Unitarians. Bolivia with the German general Otto Philipp Braun as commander, concentrated his troops in Tupiza and at the end of August 1837 entered the province of Jujuy. The Confederate soldiers had several victories, coming to occupy border sectors of the provinces of Jujuy and Salta and after a series of Argentine counterattacks, they invaded Bolivian territory. The Argentines were defeated in the Battle of Montenegro. On August 22, 1838, the Argentine troops withdrew and after the events in Yungay, the war ended.
Caudillismo (1841-1880)
After the Bolivian victory in the Battle of Ingavi, which practically consolidated the sovereignty of Bolivia and culminated successfully against any foreign threat from its neighboring countries to try to make the young nation disappear, however it is worth mentioning that the The country then continued with a period of "caudillismo" both military and civilian, whose leaders had little or no democratic conviction about respecting elections. Said period of the History of Bolivia would begin from the year 1841 and would extend for almost 40 long years until 1880. Although there were presidential elections from this period, these were often not respected, since the losing candidates did not recognize or accept his defeat and immediately began to conspire to overthrow the new president who had been elected through the polls, who finally did not finish his constitutional term of office for different reasons, among them mainly due to the constant military uprisings, revolutions and coups. state that characterized this period of the history of Bolivia.
Government of José Ballivián (1841-1847)
After the disappearance of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation, Bolivia experienced a period of anarchy and political confrontations between supporters and opponents of the union with Peru. The Peruvian President Agustín Gamarra, ideologue of the annexation of Bolivia to Peru, taking advantage of the situation, decided to invade Bolivian territory, occupying several areas of the Department of La Paz. Faced with this circumstance, the Bolivians decided to unite against a common enemy and left the powers of the State to José Ballivián. On November 18, 1841, the Battle of Ingavi took place, in which the Bolivian Army defeated the Peruvian troops of Gamarra (killed in battle). After the battle of Ingavi, troops of the Bolivian Second Division under the command of General José Ballivián occupy Peru from Moquegua to Tarapacá. Various fronts of struggle then open up in southern Peru. The Bolivian Army did not have enough troops to maintain the occupation. In the battle of Tarapacá, Peruvian montoneros formed by Major Juan Buendía, defeated on January 7, 1842 the detachment led by Colonel José María García, who died in the confrontation. Thus, the Bolivian troops vacated Tacna, Arica and Tarapacá in February 1842, retreating towards Moquegua and Puno.
The combats in Motoni and Orurillo expel and subsequently initiate the withdrawal of the Bolivian forces that occupied Peruvian territory, once again threatening Bolivia with an invasion. After that, the Puno Treaty was signed.
Government of Manuel Isidoro Belzú (1848-1855)
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New revolts promoted in part by Velasco, who held power for the fourth time; They helped to succeed a series of military governments: the most important of them is perhaps the populist government of Manuel Isidoro Belzu between 1848 and 1855. In September 1857 a revolution granted the presidential command to a civilian, José María Linares Lizarazu; in whose government the power of the army was reduced so that it would not incubate new revolutions. He also innovated in the judicial and administrative organization: in 1859 the first map of Bolivia was published, drawn by Lucio Camacho based on data provided by generals Mariano Mejía and Juan Ondarza. Overthrown by a coup in 1861, he was succeeded by José María de Achá, one of the members of the triumvirate that led the conspiracy. He issued the Printing Law, introduced the postal service with the use of stamps, founded the town of Rurrenabaque and through a new military coup in 1864 Mariano Melgarejo took power, whose government had negative consequences. for the country. Arbitrary and unreasonable provisions led to inconvenient agreements with Brazil and Chile, which caused Bolivia to lose large tracts of its territory.
Government of Jorge Córdova (1855-1857)
1855 Presidential Election
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Jorge Córdova, son-in-law of Manuel Isidoro Belzú, stood in the presidential elections of 1855 and managed to win with 67% of the total vote. Once in the presidency, the lawyer from San Luis Potosí, José María Linares, who had come in second place in the electoral elections, did not accept his defeat and began to conspire against the new government with the intention of overthrowing it, carrying out a military uprising together with his followers in the Omasuyos Province of the Department of La Paz. Although the Linaristas revolutionaries were defeated by Colonel Demetrio Molina in the Combat of Pucarani on September 18 of that year, however, other military uprisings would begin to appear in other parts of the country, one of them being in the town of Coro Coro and the other in the city of Tarija, headed by General Celedonio Ávila, but in the end the Córdova government manages to disrupt these uprisings.
Jorge Córdova has been characterized and has gone down in the history of the country for sparing the lives of those sentenced to death. But after some time, on September 9, 1857, José María Linares reappeared on the country's public and political scene. He proclaims himself president of Bolivia in the city of Oruro and advances to Cochabamba. Córdova, who was in the city of Sucre at that time, left for Oruro and from there advanced to Cochabamba to fight Linares, but finally his troops deserted and joined the Linares side. Overthrown Córdova flees to Peru to save his life
Government of José María Linares (1857-1861)
Army Reduction
After having financed several military uprisings, riots and mutinies since 1848, the San Luis lawyer José María Linares finally assumed the presidency of Bolivia after having overthrown President Jorge Córdova in September 1857 with the support of the people of Cochabamba. It is worth mentioning that throughout his life Linares had been characterized as a completely moralistic and austere man because he wanted to apply the same in the country and with a single blow Linares reduced the number of military personnel of the Bolivian Army by 80%, going from about 6,000 men to only 1,200 men with a lapidary speech that indicated that it was "throwing out 4,800 homeless people" who obviously became their first enemies that would be their long-term enemies. those same soldiers were the main protagonists of his overthrow some four years later in 1861.
Free Trade
In economic policy, he was opposed to protectionism because his government adopted the doctrine of free trade and for this, Linares decreased state protection for the local textile industry. He was against the weak coin by ordering the closure of the Casa de la Moneda installed in the city of La Paz during the government of former President Manuel Isidoro Belzu (1848-1855). Although Linares was not in favor of the weak coin, however, he did not completely suppress it, instead he ordered the establishment of the minting of silver coins in the city of Potosí.
Reduction of salaries of civil servants
Regarding fiscal policy, Linares adopted austerity, even reducing the salaries of public employees who worked in the Bolivian state. Linares was also concerned about justice and for this reason the approval of a new & # 34; Judicial Organization Law & # 34; was promulgated during his government, installing the Courts and Tribunals of Justice in the whole country. On March 5, 1858, the Notary Law was also promulgated and on May 10 of the same year, the Judicial Gazette, edited from the city of Sucre, was published for the first time.
First official map of Bolivia
Regarding exploratory policy, Linares ordered the preparation of the "First Official Map of Bolivia" for the first time to establish the limits of the great country that had been inherited from the time from the colony. Lieutenant Colonel Juan Ondarza presented the first copies of said map on September 10, 1859 and which had been published in New York City in the United States. Linares was also concerned about the Bolivian indigenous population, ordered to prohibit all political, military, police, clergy and other public officials from employing the indigenous people in personal tasks, first having to sign work contracts with the indigenous people. Although in practice almost rarely would this ordinance be complied with and applied.
Regarding mining policy, the government of Linares tried to promote the refining of metals in Bolivia and to do so declared that all metals (other than silver) could freely enter the country, but as long as they were melted down for refining in Bolivia.
Government of José María Achá (1861-1864)
The government of José María Linares was overthrown in January 1861 through a coup carried out by José María Achá, Ruperto Fernández and Manuel Antonio Sánchez who were his closest collaborators. After rising to power, the three characters formed a triumvirate that would only last for a period of barely 4 months until Achá would finally take all power, beginning his government on May 4, 1861.
But once in power, Achá did not want to govern as a de facto president but rather constitutionally and for this he convened a constituent assembly on May 1, 1861 to draft a new constitution (the seventh since the Independence of Bolivia in 1825). On May 4, 1861, the reunited congress proceeded to vote and with 20 of the 36 votes it was decided to elect José María Achá president of Bolivia.
Matanzas de Yáñez
During his presidential term, what became known as the terrible "Matanzas de Yañéz" occurred, in which more than fifty people were cruelly murdered without prior trial in the city of La Paz in the then Plaza de Armas (current Plaza Murillo) on the night of October 23, 1861. The events occurred in the absence of President Achá who was in the city of Sucre during those days, Lieutenant Colonel Plácido Yáñez decided apprehend several political adversaries of the government in La Paz, most of them were former authorities "Belcistas" (followers of former president Manuel Isidoro Belzu) because it is worth mentioning that Yáñez had a great deal of rancor since during the governments of Belzú (1848-1855) and Córdova (1855-1857) he had also been a victim of political persecution, and in revenge for that, he gave the order to proceed with the murders accusing the victims of allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government from Acha. Unfortunately, no one would be tried for this serious crime, since Yáñez himself was lynched just a month later at the hands of the population itself, which was outraged and furious at what had happened.
During the Achá government, general elections were held where the president won with around 16,393 votes. Unhappy at having lost at the polls, General Gregorio Pérez assembled an army of more than 1,000 men and decided to carry out a coup against Achá, however his revolt would be crushed by the troops of Colonel Mariano Melgarejo Valencia. Regarding agrarian policy, Achá issued the decree of February 28, 1863 that established the right for indigenous people to have access to a small portion of the land, since it should be remembered that during that time there were large landowners and landowners who did not grant their indigenous serfs the right to own even a small part of the land where they lived. Although in practice, this regulation was rarely complied with.
Chilean occupation of Mejillones
Regarding foreign policy, during his government, Chile occupied the Bolivian port of mussels, which led to a protest from the Bolivian Foreign Ministry. As a matter of urgency, the Bolivian congress met in the city of Oruro and a law was approved authorizing the executive branch to declare war on Chile in the event that all peaceful measures and diplomatic negotiations were exhausted. Although the problem did not escalate, this incident would be a precedent that would unleash years later in the War of the Pacific (1879-1880).
Government of Mariano Melgarejo (1864-1871)
Melgarejo rose to power through a coup on December 28, 1864, he was in power for 7 long years until January 1871 when he was overthrown by the people of La Paz who were already tired of his despotic and authoritarian government. Mariano Melgarejo went down in Bolivian history for having signed treaties harmful to the country in favor of Chile and Brazil that would later bring legal and territorial problems to Bolivia with its neighbors, especially with Chile.
Government of Agustín Morales (1871-1872)
Agustín Morales rose to power after overthrowing the authoritarian government of Melgarejo in January 1871. During his tenure, all the measures and international commitments adopted by Melgarejo were ignored, which led years later to the country having serious problems regarding the territorial limits.
President Morales was assassinated in the city of La Paz for his own safety Federico Lafaye (who was also his nephew).
Economy
Bolivia began its independent life with a region devastated by war and in economic depression, a situation that was accompanied by an undercapitalized mining sector and an economy based on subsistence.
It is then that in order to reorganize and redevelop the economy, it was decided to nationalize all the abandoned mines and invite foreign capitalists to put the mines back into operation. This initiative was cut short by the high costs, which were prohibitive. Among the highest costs, labor costs stood out, caused by the abolition of the mita, which forced high wages to be paid to attract agricultural workers.
Finally, given the need for resources, it was decided to confiscate the ecclesiastical patrimony in favor of the new state. This patrimony was leased and the income generated was allocated to the creation of social services and educational centers in the urban centers of Bolivia.
In this way, the creation of the independent state of Bolivia arose on a rather delicate economy caused by the many years of war, starting the new republic in a disastrous economic context, not at all favorable for this new independent path and freedoms.
In a later period, ranging from 1841 to 1880, the new Republic of Bolivia is characterized by the crisis of the state due to the lack of government resources and investment, materializing in economic stagnation.
During the early years of this period, the educational level of society was extraordinarily low and seemed to imply that great changes could not be expected in the future; the mining sector had innumerable abandoned mines and the rest of the national industry satisfied only the needs of its population. Thus, as in the beginning of its republican life, Bolivia remained a predominantly rural society.
However, despite starting with a mining sector in complete detriment, a substantial improvement could be achieved with the initiative of Bolivian investors such as Aniceto Arce and Aramayo back in 1870, a period during which capital began to be present abroad in significant quantities, being able to say that the Bolivian silver mining industry had reached international levels of capitalization, technological development and considerable efficiency.
The vigorous growth of the mining industry, as well as the discovery of important deposits of silver in the Caracoles region, such as the large deposits of guano and nitrate in the Mejillones region, drew the attention of Bolivia's neighbors. This caused governments and foreign investors to show their interest in them and Bolivia, faced with the need for economic resources, to grant concessions in their favor in order to benefit the country.
But such a situation did not come to pass, since in 1878 the Bolivian government of Hilarión Daza introduced a tax on saltpeter, producing a diplomatic crisis since the Boundary Treaty with Chile of 1874 demanded that Chilean capital not be raised taxes for the first 25 years after the treaty. Within the diplomatic conflict, the Bolivian government confiscated the assets of these concessions, which the neighboring country of Chile interpreted as the breach of the boundary treaty and proceeded to take control of the new disputed territory. Despite mediation attempts, this led Bolivia, Chile and Peru to the War of the Pacific, which would mean for Bolivia the loss of both these new deposits and the loss of its sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean.
Border Wars
Pacific War
In 1879 the War of the Pacific broke out, pitting Chile against the Alliance between Bolivia and Peru. The conflict was originated by the interests of exploitation of guano and nitrate, which is why it is also known as the Saltpeter War and had as a final consequence the loss of the sovereign outlet to the sea for Bolivia, by being in possession of Chile de Antofagasta, and for Peru the loss of its territories of Tarapacá and Arica. The versions about the causes, circumstances, rights and events related to the War of the Pacific vary substantially depending on whether they come from the countries that were in conflict.
In the middle of the XIX century Bolivia and Chile had differences on the delimitation of the border between the two countries that put them at odds verge of war on several occasions. For this reason, they signed two treaties in 1866 and 1874, setting the border at the 24th parallel but also establishing mechanisms for the shared exploitation of minerals in the region. In particular, article 4 of the 1874 Treaty established a clause that would be the key to the war, four years later:
The export rights imposed on the minerals exported in the field area of which the preceding articles speak, shall not exceed the current quota, and the Chilean individuals, industries and capitals shall not be subject to more contributions of any kind than those that exist in the present.
The stipulation contained in this article shall last for the term of twenty-five years.(see)
On November 27, 1873, the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta signed a contract with the Bolivian government, which authorized the exploitation of the mineral free of rights for 15 years, from the bay of Antofagasta to Salinas, including the Salar del Carmen. This contract was not ratified by the Bolivian Congress, which at that time was analyzing the negotiations with Chile—which would result in the boundary treaty of 1874—.
For Bolivia, the 1873 contract was not yet in force, because according to the Bolivian constitution, contracts on natural resources had to be approved by congress. In 1878 the Bolivian National Constituent Assembly, in the midst of an economic crisis, studied the agreement entered into by the government in 1873. It decided to ratify the contract if a tax of 10 cents was paid on a quintal exported from Bolivian territory. This decision, which affected the interests of the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarriles de Antofagasta, was finally considered by the Chilean government as a violation of article IV of the 1874 treaty. Said tax of 10 cents, which affected this company, is mentioned as the casus belli of the Pacific War.
On February 14, 1879, Chilean troops landed and occupied Antofagasta, then a Bolivian city-port, extending the occupation to the entire area. On March 1, Bolivia declared the rupture of communications with Chile and the seizure of property of Chilean citizens, and on March 23, both countries faced each other in the battle of Calama, with an adverse result for the Bolivian forces. Finally, on April 5, Chile declared war on Peru, which also had a mutual defense treaty with Bolivia that President Daza demanded to comply with.
After the military disasters in Pisagua, San Francisco (November 19) and a disputed withdrawal of Bolivian troops from Camarones, President Hilarión Daza was ousted on December 28 by a coup d'état by the military leadership in amid enormous discontent among the population over the fate of the war. Daza went into exile in France and General Narciso Campero assumed power. Shortly after, on May 26, 1880, the battle of Tacna took place, ending Bolivia's military participation in the war.
Years later, on February 27, 1894, Hilarión Daza would return to the country to defend himself against the accusations, but he was assassinated upon arrival, at the Uyuni railway station. The crime was never solved.
Conservatism (1880-1899)
Government of Narciso Campero (1880-1884)
Government of Gregorio Pacheco (1884-1888)
In 1880, Narciso Campero was appointed president. Thus began a long period of democratic stability called "of the conservative-liberal oligarchy", supported first by the silver ore economy of the south, whose center was Sucre, and then by tin mining whose center was it followed the Oruro-La Paz axis. He was succeeded by Gregorio Pacheco in 1884 (a president with a long philanthropic career) and Aniceto Arce in 1888. During the government of the latter, the first public railway in the country from Uyuni to Oruro began to operate.
Government of Aniceto Arce (1888-1892)
Government of Mariano Baptista (1892-1896)
Government of Severo Fernández Alonso (1896-1899)
Liberalism (1899-1920)
Government of José Manuel Pando (1899-1904)
In 1899 the liberals defeated the conservatives in the so-called Federal War led by Colonel José Manuel Pando at the head of a federal government junta, which assumed power that year; It was then that the headquarters of the Presidency of the Republic was transferred from Sucre to La Paz. During this time the era of tin began, which replaced silver as the main source of foreign exchange, producing a dramatic change in the Bolivian economy. The outstanding figure of the moment was Simón I. Patiño, a tin miner who became one of the richest and most powerful men in the world.
With Pando was born the "liberal period" from the years 1899-1920 in which several democratically elected governments followed one another, the most important being those of Ismael Montes (1904-1909) and (1913-1917).
Acre War
The ephemeral rise of elastic rubber (rubber) led in the years 1903-1904 to a conflict with Brazil over the control of the Beni-Pando axis, a great producer of said material. After the Acre War, a 355,242 km² border region with Brazil, the Petrópolis Treaty was signed on November 7, 1903, which ceded the entire area in conflict to the neighboring country.
Additionally, in 1904 Bolivia signed a peace treaty with Chile, through which it ceded the territories won by it in the War of the Pacific in exchange for the construction of the Arica-La Paz railway. Subsequently
First government of Ismael Montes (1904-1909)
Government of Eliodoro Villazón (1909-1913)
Second government of Ismael Montes (1913-1917)
Government of José Gutiérrez Guerra (1917-1920)
Republicanism (1920-1936)
Government of Bautista Saavedra (1920-1925)
Government of Felipe Segundo (1925-1926)
Government of Hernando Siles (1926-1930)
Government of Carlos Blanco (1930-1931)
Government of Daniel Salamanca (1931-1934)
Chaco War
Starting in 1930, the country again experienced periods of internal dissension. That year a revolution overthrew President Hernando Siles who had ruled since 1926 without convening the national legislature and was trying to extend his term. Daniel Salamanca, elected president in 1931, was overthrown in 1934 by a clique led by his vice president José Luis Tejada Sorzano. His government was overthrown by a military junta headed by Colonel David Toro, who tried to get the country out of the desperate situation it was in, as a result of the world recession and the Chaco conflict with Paraguay. However, he surrounded himself with enemies among the military and in 1937 he was overthrown by a group headed by Lieutenant Colonel Germán Busch Becerra, chief of the General Staff.
Government of José Luis Tejada (1934-1936)
Military Socialism and the Old Order (1936-1952)
Government of David Toro (1936-1937)
In 1938 a new Constitution was approved. However, Busch abolished it a year later and imposed a dictatorial government. Four months later, he was found shot dead. General Carlos Quintanilla assumed the presidency, who restored the validity of the 1938 Constitution and determined that the Army should exercise control of the country until the holding of new elections.
Government of German Busch (1937-1939)
Government of Carlos Quintanilla (1939-1940)
Government of Enrique Peñaranda (1940-1943)
In 1940, General Enrique Peñaranda was elected president, who on April 7, 1943, during World War II, declared war on the Axis countries.
Government of Gualberto Villarroel (1943-1946)
In December 1943, he was overthrown by a civic-military insurrection led by the military man Gualberto Villarroel, who a year later assumed the country's constitutional presidency supported by the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR), a party that included sympathizers of the Axis, and by the Partido Obrero Revolucionario. However, and due to economic pressures, the new government was forced to maintain good relations with the allied forces. In July 1946 Villarroel was overthrown and lynched in La Paz.
Government of Néstor Guillén (1946)
Government of Tomás Monje (1946-1947)
Government of Enrique Hertzog (1947-1949)
In 1947 the conservatives took power again. Enrique Hertzog's government had to continually endure opposition from both left and right parties, and in the early 1950s the Communist Party was outlawed. Hertzog resigned and Mamerto Urriolagoitia succeeded him in power.
Government of Mamerto Urriolagoitia (1949-1951)
Government of Hugo Ballivián (1951-1952)
Revolutionary Nationalism (1952-1964)
Revolution of 52
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In April 1952, a revolution broke out organized by the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario founded in 1941 by Víctor Paz Estenssoro, which brought together radical middle-class intellectuals, which became strong during the Villarroel government, in 1943-1946 by uniting to him the great majority of the mining unions, organized around the FSTMB (Sindical Federation of Mining Workers of Bolivia [1]) and directed by the leader Juan Lechín Oquendo. After bloody struggles led by MNR deputy chief Hernán Siles, Paz Estensoro, who returned from exile in Buenos Aires, took over the presidency. The new government immediately began to change the structure of the previous regime; he established a monopoly on the export of tin and nationalized the mines, formerly in the hands of three powerful families. An oil policy was also encouraged, allowing exploitation and export to foreign companies.
With the agrarian reform, promulgated in August 1953, land was parceled out, distributing large extensions among the indigenous people in the course of the following years.
In August 1956, Hernán Siles Zuazo assumed the presidency, who as vice president had accompanied Paz Estenssoro in his governorship. During his presidential term, he initially devoted himself to the task of reordering the economy and stabilizing the currency. Little was achieved by him in three years of government, because he had to permanently face the opposition headed by the Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB). After a failed coup attempt in 1959, the death of Oscar Unzaga de la Vega, leader of the FSB, took place.
In 1960 Paz Estenssoro was elected for the second time as president and in August 1964 he was re-elected. Shortly thereafter, on November 5, he was overthrown in a military coup led by his vice president, General René Barrientos.
Military Governments (1964-1982)
The military government carried out a policy of conservative economic reforms, such as the reopening of the tin mining industry to foreign private investment. In July 1966 René Barrientos was elected president already as a civilian. However, he was forced to rely on the military to deal with the guerrilla movements that had begun to operate in the mountainous regions. In October 1967, the Bolivian Army announced that it had defeated the rebels in a place near the village of Vallegrande. He had been captured on the battlefield Ernesto Che Guevara, being executed shortly after. Barrientos died in a freak helicopter crash in April 1969. A series of short-lived governments, most of them military, came to power, and in August 1971 General Juan José Torres was overthrown in a coup d'état led by the Colonel Hugo Banzer with the support of the FSB and the MNR enemy political parties during the past decade.
The Banzer regime quickly shifted from a relatively moderate position to one of greater repression: it suppressed the labor movement, suspended all civil rights, and sent troops into the mining centers. In 1978 Banzer resigned and a military junta seized power. In the early 1980s, the strong economic growth of the previous decade—which had been sustained by high world market tin prices—gave way to crisis. The fall in the price of mineral and the mismanagement of the military regimes had left Bolivia with a huge debt, a hyperinflationary situation and a decline in export earnings. The illegal export of cocaine was the main source of foreign exchange, so the United States pressured the Bolivian government to take effective measures against the trafficking of this drug.
Faced with racial and cultural problems, Bolivia has known revolutions and military coups. In the early 1980s, the last military junta that ruled the country was overthrown in order to reinstate the democratic form of government.
Party Democracy (1982-2006)
Second government of Hernán Siles Suazo (1982-1985)
In October 1982, Hernán Siles Zuazo once again took office as president. He faced several ministerial crises and was unable to solve the country's economic problems, quite urgent due to the payment of interest on foreign debt to international banks.
Fourth government of Víctor Paz Estensoro (1985-1989)
Siles resigned and called early elections; Congress returned to claim Paz Estenssoro as president. His new government tried to cut coca production and cocaine sales with the collaboration of US troops, but this measure, in addition to being unpopular, was only partially successful. Paz Estenssoro's main achievement was a new economic policy that stopped hyperinflation of the order of 27,000% between January and August 1985, and which was exported to other countries in America.
Government of Jaime Paz Zamora (1989-1993)
Jaime Paz Zamora, who had been the third most voted candidate in the May 1989 elections, assumed the country's presidency in August after receiving the support of Acción Democrática Nacionalista (ADN), a right-wing political group.
First government of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993-1997)
The following elections, held in June 1993, gave victory to the mining businessman Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who assumed the presidency, while the Aymara leader Víctor Hugo Cárdenas acceded to the vice presidency. Likewise, in the congressional elections, the MNR obtained a majority, replacing the centre-left coalition in power up to that moment. Lozada, who had been Minister of Planning and Coordination before his election as president, introduced some of the toughest economic reform measures put into practice by heavily indebted countries: extensive privatization of state-owned companies, reduction of spending on social services, and in education programs, and closure of many of the mines. Strict control of state spending helped reduce inflation to 6.5% in 1995, but the social costs were very high, including the Christmas Massacre. His government program, called & # 34; Everyone's Plan & # 34;, consisted of capitalization (privatization of state assets under another name), popular participation, educational reform and administrative decentralization.
Second government of Hugo Banzer (1997-2001)
In the presidential elections of June 1997, former president Hugo Banzer was victorious, who, without having an absolute majority, initially received the support of fellow former president Jaime Paz Zamora and his party, the Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria (MIR)., who in this way returned the favor for supporting the governance of the country with his Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) deputies during his term. In June 1999, Banzer had to change half of the members of his government, after a serious scandal that came to light when that same month the unexpected resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Guido Nayar, who criticized corruption and government ineffectiveness. The president decreed a state of siege on April 8, 2000, in order to stop the wave of protests that were taking place in Cochabamba in the so-called Water War, but with this measure he could not contain a violent social outbreak caused by the extreme poverty of the indigenous peasantry until he signed a series of agreements with their union representatives six days later.
On the 20th of that month, four days before the members of his government presented their resignation in full, Banzer suspended the state of siege. He appointed a new cabinet on April 25, but on October 19 he had to see how his government once again presented his resignation en bloc after the serious social crisis experienced in Bolivia since September. This, characterized by strikes, roadblocks and clashes with military forces (especially in the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz) was carried out by indigenous people and certain unions, defenders of the peasants' right to grow coca and opposed to government intentions to eradicate it and replace it with other products.
Government of Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga (2001-2002)
Suffering from lung cancer, Banzer resigned from the presidency on August 6, 2001 and was replaced by his vice president, Jorge Quiroga. He remained in government until August 6, 2002, completing the five-year term for which Banzer had been elected.
Second government of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (2002-2003)
His successor was Sánchez de Lozada, whose candidacy for the MNR received the most votes in the presidential elections held on June 30 of that same year. By receiving only 22.5% of the votes (20.94% for Evo Morales, indigenous leader of the Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS; 20.91% for Manfred Reyes Villa, candidate for Nueva Fuerza Republicana, NFR; and of Jaime Paz Zamora's 16.3%, again presented by the MIR), Sánchez de Lozada specified the designation of the new National Congress (whose members were elected that same day), for which he competed with Morales and which he achieved thanks to the vote of their parliamentarians and those from other parties, mainly the MIR. Sánchez de Lozada and Paz Zamora previously sealed the so-called Bolivian National Responsibility Plan, a governance pact between both formations based on a future policy whose main axis was the creation of employment and wealth.
The new president announced in February 2003 a series of unpopular economic measures (including a new tax on wages), which sparked nationwide protests. Sánchez de Lozada withdrew his project, but the serious crisis that arose, peppered with violent incidents, led to the resignation of all members of his government. In the following month of August, to try to put an end to the crisis the country was experiencing, Sánchez de Lozada reached an agreement with the opposition NFR party, which entered the executive branch. The government plan to pay for health and educational projects with the profits from the export of natural gas generated new discontent (mainly, due to the possibility that said product would be transported through a Chilean port); Thus, in September and October 2003 there were new demonstrations promoted by the Bolivian Workers' Confederation (COB) and the Single Trade Union Confederation of Peasant Workers of Bolivia, which called for an indefinite general strike. The popular movement was also catalyzed by the MAS and the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement. The revolt spread to the main cities of the country (La Paz and El Alto were even militarized by the government and the so-called October Massacre took place in El Alto), where the climate was one of open insurrection. Faced with this situation, which produced splits in the executive, Sánchez de Lozada resigned on October 17.
Government of Carlos Mesa (2003-2005)
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada was replaced by the vice president, Carlos Mesa, who formed a cabinet made up of politicians not attached to any party, with the intention of putting an end to the conflict and achieving national reconciliation. Shortly after his inauguration, Mesa promised to call a referendum in which Bolivians would have to pronounce themselves on the issue of natural gas exports.
Government of Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (2005-2006)
Due to almost zero political support, Carlos Mesa resigned, pressured by serious social disturbances, unexpectedly assuming the presidency by the then president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Eduardo Rodríguez Veltze, who promised to exercise a government of transition, calling elections on January 22, 2006. His government was short and was marred by scandals such as the Chinese Missile Case.
Masismo (2006-present)
First government of Evo Morales Ayma (2006-2010)
Evo Morales Ayma assumed power on January 22, 2006 as the first president of indigenous descent to be elected President of the Republic by an absolute majority of 60% of the votes in the general presidential election (the second round is not typified). He did so by promising to nationalize the country's hydrocarbons, fight corruption and excesses of multinationals, allow the legal coca market and intervene without the help of the United States, better distribute land and govern for all. To date, Morales has had several confrontations with oil companies and governments of the countries from which these oil companies come, such as the case of Repsol. The issue of nationalization is still pending on the Bolivian president's agenda, but on October 29, 2006, new conditions for the oil companies were signed as a first step.[citation required]
In July 2006, elections were held to elect representatives to an assembly. The autonomic proposal carried out an internal blockade in the Constituent Assembly. All these dichotomies led to tension in the political situation between East and West. When the Bolivian political scene seemed to be less convulsed, to this was added a controversial proposal for the Constituent Assembly, since the city of Sucre (capital of Bolivia with only one constituted state power) asked that the other two state powers located in La Paz (seat of government) are transferred to Sucre.
These political controversies caused a temporary stoppage of sessions in the Constituent Assembly. However, the vice presidency of the republic offered itself to be the mediator between both political forces. Although the vice presidency achieved a consensus among all the political groups, it likewise prepared a document that did not satisfy the demand of the city of Sucre. The issue of the Capital was withdrawn from the political agenda after taking place in the city of El Alto, the Gran Cabildo, which tipped the balance in favor of withdrawing this difficult issue from the new constitution.
On November 21, 2007, at a meeting of the Inter-institutional Committee of Chuquisaca, they decided to seize the police installations and intervene in the session of the Constituent Assembly at the Military Lyceum, as well as the orientation of the council on Friday, November 23 to avoid the final vote of the different articles of the New Political Constitution of Bolivia. Due to the constant attacks and insults that the Assembly members received, by reactionary forces contrary to the approval of a new Political Constitution; The presidency of the Constituent Assembly decides to transfer the Constituent Assembly to the "Lieutenant Edmundo Andrade" Military High School in the Castillo de La Glorieta, in order to give security to the Assembly members and to be able to give rise to the final vote on the different articles of the New Constitution. [citation required]
It is in those moments that the Inter-institutional Committee led by Jaime Barrón, which had articulated in advance a strategy to block the Constituent Assembly using as an excuse the issue of the headquarters of the powers of the state or Capital, and to take the headquarters of the force public, provoke the resignation of the then Prefect David Sánchez, adherent of the MAS, decides to act and launch his attack when the council expired, at noon on Friday the 23rd, Barrón launched a harangue to the crowd that gathered in Plaza 25 de Mayo: "We have We have to hurry up because there are problems at the Gran Mariscal Theater,” he said despite the fact that it was not obvious. More than as a comment, the crowd took Barrón's words as an order and headed towards those facilities to take them and the scuffle with the security forces began. This would end with the police withdrawal to Potosí, 48 hours later, with the balance of three deaths, almost three hundred wounded and half a dozen police installations under fire. Later the "protesters" Led by Barrón, they decided to attempt to take over the Liceo de La Glorieta, to stop the en masse approval of the Constituent Assembly and were repelled by the Police, after several hours of fighting. During that time, within the Liceo, the Assembly members concluded the grand approval of the New Political Constitution, on November 25, 2007.[citation required]
Second government of Evo Morales Ayma (2010-2015)
The new Bolivian constitution entered into force on February 7, 2009, the date on which it was promulgated by President Evo Morales after being approved in a referendum with a 90.24% turnout. The consultation was held on January 25, 2009 and the approval vote reached 61.43% of the total, that is, 2,064,417 votes. The "no", for its part, reached 1,296,175 votes (that is, 38.57%). The blank votes totaled 1.7% and the invalid ones, 2.61%.
Third government of Evo Morales Ayma (2015-2019)
On February 21, 2016, a referendum was held to define the continuity of the current president for 4 more years. The objective of this referendum was the approval or rejection of the constitutional project to allow the president or vice president of the Bolivian State to run again for an election. The "No" won with just over 51% of the vote, while the "Yes" it obtained slightly less than 49% of the remaining votes, rejecting the constitutional project. The ballot paper consisted of a question so that voters can approve or reject the project to reform article 168 of the Political Constitution of the State: "Do you agree with the reform of article 168 of the Political Constitution of the State so that the president or president and the vice president or vice president of the State can be re-elected or re-elected twice continuously?" The only valid answers were "Yes" or "No", while other options were to cancel the vote or vote blank. Despite the rejection of said constitutional project, President Evo Morales indicated that he would run for the presidential elections next year 2019, putting "political rights" above the political rights. above the laws of the country.
On October 4, 2019, Santa Cruz de la Sierra went to a Cabildo for the fire in Chiquitania and respect for 21F, the rest of the departments, in the same way, decided to ignore the Evo-Álvaro couple.
On October 20, 2019, the Bolivian people went to elections, which were annulled after an audit by the Organization of American States that verified a fraud, for which they were annulled. Previously, the national civic movement rose up in protests with strikes and councils, protests that tried to be appeased by MAS militants without success. The civic movement demanded the resignation of President Evo Morales after the death of 3 Bolivians.
Resignation of Evo Morales and acephaly
After the engineer and computer expert, Edgar Villegas, CONADE, NeoTec and Ethical Hacking denounced an alleged fraud in the 2019 General Elections, with the journalistic support of Mexican journalist Fernando del Rincón on CNN and Televisión Universitaria, Both the opposition and citizens outside the political sphere took to the streets placing tricolor flags and pitas to block the passage, demanding the annulment of the elections. After clashes in different parts of the country, after three cases of deaths and several injuries, the request for the resignation of President Evo Morales was added, arguing what the president said when he assumed his first term, that he would resign the "first dead& #3. 4;. The Bolivian constitution Article 169 "The term of office of the President or the President and the Vice President or the Vice President of the State is five years, and they can be reelected or reelected continuously for only one time"
The national civic movement was led by the president of the Comité Por Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho (a controversial local businessman), and the president of the Civic Committee of Potosí, Marco Pumari, and leaders of the Ayllus, such as Nelson Condori, the which sealed an alliance. Together they drafted a letter of resignation from the president and promised, in a town hall in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, to deliver the letter of resignation in the hands of the president along with a bible, announcing their intentions for ideological reform. On the afternoon of November 8, the Cochabamba police mutinied, refusing to repress the protesters not related to the MAS, an act that was replicated the following day in all the commandos of the main cities of the country.
On the morning of November 9, in La Paz, Luis Fernando Camacho and Nelson Condori, leader of the Ayllus, swore an end to racism among Bolivians and the eternal union between East and West, they ratified the request to resign without masist secession. At the same time, Camacho promised that "Pachamama will never return to this palace again", referring to the spirit of the Andean Mother Earth. Bolivia belongs to Christ. That same afternoon, the resignations of governors and mayors affiliated with the MAS began, after a series of threats to relatives, the burning of the houses of the leaders, and the lynching of Patricia Guzmán, community chief of Vinto for the MAS. Meanwhile, in Vilo Vilo, MAS affiliates attacked caravans of citizens from San Luis Potosi and Chuquisaqueños that were heading to the government headquarters and there were reports that they were handling firearms.
On the morning of November 10, 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the OAS verified electoral fraud, in a controversial report that has been questioned by three studies by CELAG, CEPR and University of Michigan political science researcher Walter Mebane, a renowned scientist considered one of the world's leading experts on voter fraud. Faced with the OAS report, the government annulled the elections and called for new ones. However the process continued. The resignations of the MAS leadership continued throughout the country. The Armed Forces and the COB joined the request for resignation. At 4:57 p.m., former President Evo Morales Ayma and his Vice President Álvaro García Linera resigned from their presidential command, denouncing a coup d'état. Later, the president of the Senate also resigned, as did the president of the Chamber of Deputies, sparking the revelry of the opposition who took to the streets to celebrate his victory. The Constitutional Succession would correspond to the senator for the department of Beni, Jeanine Áñez, despite the fact that the Plurinational Legislative Assembly did not accept the resignation of Evo Morales. Thus, she took office on November 12, 2019, in a short legislative session without a quorum.
Government of Jeanine Áñez Chávez (2019-2020)
After Evo's resignation, videos were released of the police setting fire to a Whipala, related to the claim of indigenous peoples in the Morales government, although the police said they were infiltrated members of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), without being from the police institution. This caused a wave of protests with an epicenter in El Alto. That night, while Congress had not yet opened session and Senator Jeanine Áñez was in Beni, the country experienced an acephaly and the opposition denounced looting and destruction by MAS militants, while the news spread of a monumental embezzlement of the Bank Central de Bolivia by the outgoing government, which, however, was denied by the institution itself.
Health Crisis due to the Spread of COVID-19 in Bolivia
In March 2020, after confirming the first cases of people infected by the COVID-19 virus, the national government ordered measures to prevent the greatest number of infections. Flights, educational and non-essential activities in the country were suspended.
Government of Luis Arce Catacora (2020-present)
2020 national elections and health crisis
On October 18, 2020, the 2020 Bolivian general elections were held, in which the MAS candidate, Luis Arce Catacora, won with 55.11% of the valid votes.