Hugo Bánzer Suárez: 1926—: Politician Biography - Long Military Career, Ousted From Office, A New Era, Resigned Due To Poor Health
bolivia president coup political
Ailing Bolivian president Hugo Bánzer Suárez resigned in August of 2001 after a long and sometimes controversial political career. A top military officer who engineered a 1971 coup, Bánzer led Bolivia through seven years of harsh military rule. Nearly twenty years after yet another military coup forced him from office—and after Bolivia had implemented sweeping democratic reforms—Bánzer was elected president. Over the next four years, he won praise for allowing Bolivia's progress toward a full democracy to flourish. Diagnosed with cancer at age 76, Bánzer resigned from office for the second time and his Vice President, Jorge Quiroga Ramírez, was named to succeed him. The handover continued Bolivia's relatively recent tradition in peaceful transitions of political power.
Additional Topics
Bánzer was born in 1926 into a Spanish ranching family. They lived in Concepción, in the largely agrarian Santa Cruz province. He was sent to La Paz, Bolivia's largest city, for schooling, and then entered the Bolivian Army Military College. He became a cavalry lieutenant in the army upon graduation, and enjoyed a successful military career for a number of years. Postwar-era i…
Still, Bánzer's 1971-78 rule ushered in a period of stability for Bolivia. His economic policies stabilized the economy, and the country enjoyed short-term benefits from U.S. foreign aid and high oil prices. But when the economy began to falter, protesters went on hunger strikes, and there were widespread calls for democratic elections. Bánzer complied and held elections in 19…
Bánzer's four years in office proved to be something of a surprise for his detractors. Instead of reviving the harsh autocratic rule of his earlier presidency, he worked to ensure progress on human-rights laws, and championed a reform of the judiciary with a new criminal-law procedure code. He strengthened ties to the United States, and complied with American and United Nations strat…
In 2001 Bánzer read a statement before Congress that called for further constitutional amendments to change the country's electoral system, making it fully democratic. His 50-point plan was viewed, however, as a concession and stop-gap measure in the face of a growing movement for further reform. As a report in the Economist noted, the backdown of Bánzer's government th…
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments