Hugo Banzer Suarez
| Hugo Banzer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 62nd and 75th President of Bolivia | |
|
In office August 6, 1997 – August 7, 2001 |
|
| Vice President | Jorge Quiroga |
| Preceded by | Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Quiroga |
|
In office August 21, 1971 – July 21, 1978 |
|
| Preceded by | Juan José Torres |
| Succeeded by | Juan Pereda |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Hugo Banzer Suárez May 10, 1926 Concepción, Santa Cruz |
| Died | May 5, 2002 (aged 75) Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Santa Cruz |
| Nationality | Bolivian |
| Political party | Military, ADN |
| Spouse(s) | Yolanda Prada de Banzer (d.2015) |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | Bolivian Military College Armored Cavalry School School of the Americas |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Bolivia
|
| Service/branch |
 Bolivian Army
|
| Years of service | 1952–1978 |
| Rank |
 General
|
| Commands | Bolivian Army |
Hugo Banzer Suárez (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈuɣo banˈseɾ ˈswaɾes]; May 10, 1926 – May 5, 2002) was a Bolivian politician, military general and President of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978, as a dictator; and then again from 1997 to 2001, as constitutional President.
Banzer was native to the rural lowlands of the Santa Cruz Department. He attended military schools in Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and the United States, including the Armored Cavalry School at Fort Hood, Texas. He took a Motor Officer Course at the School of the Americas. He was a descendant of the German immigrant Georg Banzer Schewetering.
Banzer was promoted to colonel in 1961, and appointed three years later to head the Ministry of Education and Culture in the government of General René Barrientos, a personal friend. Banzer became increasingly involved in politics, siding with the right wing of the Bolivian Army. He was also appointed director of the Military Academy and the Coronel Gualberto Villarroel Military School.
In 1970, President Juan José Torres was leading the country in a leftist direction, arousing the ire and mistrust of conservative anti-communist circles in Bolivia and, crucially, in the Nixon administration. He had called an Asamblea del Pueblo, or People's Assembly, in which representatives of specific "proletarian" sectors of society were represented (miners, unionized teachers, students, peasants). The Assembly was imbued with all the powers of a working parliament, even though the right-wing opponents of the regime tended to call it a gathering of virtual soviets. Torres also allowed labor leader, Juan Lechín, to resume his post as head of the Central Obrera Boliviana/Bolivian Workers' Union (COB). These measures, coupled with Ovando's earlier nationalization of Gulf Oil properties, angered his opponents even more, chief among whom was Banzer and his US supporters. In early 1971, a faction of the Bolivian military attempted to unseat the new president but failed, whereupon Banzer fled to Argentina, but did not give up his ambitions to the presidency.
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