Juan Jose Torres

Juan José Torres González (Cochabamba, March 5, 1920-San Andrés de Giles, June 2, 1976), popularly known as J.J. (Jota Jota), was a Bolivian military, politician and dictator, who served as the fiftieth president of Bolivia from October 7, 1970 to August 21, 1971.

Origins

Juan José Torres was born in the city of Ciudad de Cochabamba, Cochabamba on March 5, 1920. His childhood was characterized by a life of austerity, caused mainly by the premature death of his father Juan Torres Cueto, in the Chaco War. Given the widowhood of his mother (Sabina González), he had to take care of the maintenance of the family made up of six siblings. He entered the Army Academy, graduating from the Army Military College, & # 34; Gualberto Villarroel & # 34;, on December 20, 1941, with the rank of Second Lieutenant of the artillery weapon. In 1964 he served as military attaché at the Bolivian embassy in Brazil and in 1965 he was appointed ambassador to Uruguay.

Military

In 1966 he was appointed Minister of Labor by the Military Government Junta, chaired by General Alfredo Ovando Candía. The following year he is appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Bolivian Armed Forces. Between 1968 and 1969 he served as permanent secretary of the Supreme Council of National Defense. During the performance of these functions, Torres and a nucleus of civilians and military designed the political and ideological guidelines, and the programmatic bases that the Ovando government assumed as a mandate. Torres was the author of the "Revolutionary Mandate of the Armed Forces", a programmatic platform of military governments. Together with José Ortiz Mercado, he also chaired the preparation of the & # 34; Socio-Economic Strategy for National Development & # 34;, a document that should guide Ovando's government management but which in practice began its implementation during the government of Torres. During the Ovando government and by instructions of the "2nd Revolutionary Mandate of the Armed Forces" (also prepared by Torres) the company Bolivian Gulf Oil Company was nationalized. In 1970 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, serving in the cabinet of ministers as a direct representative of the Bolivian Armed Forces, with the central purpose of making the Ovando Government comply with the Mandates of the Armed Forces.

President

He assumed power through a popular uprising, with the participation of workers, peasant organizations, the university movement and a sector of the military loyal to Torres (President Torres baptized this alliance as the 4 pillars of the revolution ) on October 7, 1970 in order to prevent a coup against the government of General Alfredo Ovando Candía, establishing a military government of the national left.

During his brief government, the nationalization of the Matilde Mine and Colas y Desmontes was carried out, the expulsion of the Peace Corps from the United States, and a significant budget increase for Bolivian universities. His foreign policy was characterized by being pluralistic and respectful of self-determination, he had rapprochements with the Chile of Salvador Allende with important advances in the negotiations for an outlet to the sea, he created the Development Corporation (incubators for Bolivian state companies) and the Banco del Estado (development bank), in addition to establishing a high wage replacement for miners.

He also tried to create a model to strengthen and deepen democracy in Bolivia, with direct popular participation through the plebiscite, the formation of the Council of State and through a national assembly with various modalities of representation within it. For this, during his government, the & # 34; Political Constitution of the State-Revolutionary Government-Republic of Bolivia-1971 & # 34;

Assassination of Juan José Torres

He was overthrown by a coup on August 21, 1971, led by Hugo Banzer with the support of conservative Brazilian sectors and part of the German colony in Bolivia. He went into exile, first to Peru, then to Chile and finally to Argentina. In Chile he wrote an important contribution entitled "Bolivia: National Dynamics and Liberation", a document that incorporates a historical thesis, political thesis and programmatic proposals. In May 1973 he was one of the founders of the Alianza de la Izquierda Nacional (ALIN).

Mausoleum where Presidents Busch, Villarroel and Torres rest - Plaza Villaroel - Monument to the National Revolution, City of La Paz, Bolivia.

He was kidnapped and assassinated in Buenos Aires on June 2, 1976, within the framework of the Condor Plan, which implied the collaboration of the dictatorships of Hugo Banzer and Jorge Rafael Videla.

In 1976 the dictatorial government of Hugo Banzer, fearing a popular uprising against his government, opposed the repatriation of Torres' mortal remains. Popular organizations demanded his repatriation in order to pay him posthumous tribute. Finally, the family, cornered between the pressures of the Argentine and Bolivian governments, decided to transfer the remains of President Torres to Mexico, where they rested for 7 years before finally returning to Bolivian soil.

In 1983 the remains of Torres were repatriated to Bolivia from Mexico, where they were temporarily received with the support and decision of President Luis Echeverría Álvarez, at the initiative of the Bolivian Central Obrera and several popular organizations, and the disposition of the government of Hernán Siles Suazo (1982-1985). Currently the body of General Juan José Torres rests in the Monument to the National Revolution (located in Plaza Villarroel - Campo de Marte de las Fuerzas Armadas), together with the martyred presidents Germán Busch and Gualberto Villarroel.