Enrique Peñaranda
| Enrique Peñaranda | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 45th President of Bolivia | |
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In office 15 April 1940 – 20 December 1943 |
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| Preceded by | Carlos Quintanilla |
| Succeeded by | Gualberto Villarroel López |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Enrique Peñaranda del Castillo 15 November 1892 La Paz, Bolivia |
| Died | 22 December 1969 (aged 77) Madrid, Spain |
| Nationality | Bolivian |
| Political party | Concordance |
Enrique Peñaranda del Castillo (La Paz, Bolivia, November 15, 1892 – Madrid, Spain, December 22, 1969) was a Bolivian general who served as commander of his country's forces during the second half of the Chaco War (1932-1935). He was later elected President of Bolivia in 1940, serving in that capacity until being overthrown in 1943.
Peñaranda was born into a politically influential family–to a family of Aymara heritage–to an Indian father and a Mestizo mother. Peñaranda's cousin, Nestor Peñaranda, was a well-known Methodist Evangalical missionary who worked among the Indians of La Paz.
Peñaranda's performance in the Chaco War is debatable and controversial. Hailed as a hero for breaking the deadly Paraguayan siege in the Battle of Campo Via (a claim probably exaggerated by the government of Daniel Salamanca to distract attention from the devastating Bolivian loss in that battle), he took over as Bolivia's top general when the German General Hans Kundt was demoted in December 1933. As Commander of the Army, Peñaranda continuously clashed with the elderly and demanding Constitutional President Daniel Salamanca (1931–34), who understandably was not very happy with the military's performance in the war. Further disagreements ensued over the issue of appointments and promotions, Peñaranda believing that this was a purely internal military matter and the President insisting that it was part of his mandate as Commander in Chief. In November 1934, Salamanca decided to replace Peñaranda with a new military commander, sparking a coup d'état led by General Peñaranda, Colonel David Toro, and Major Germán Busch, all future presidents of Bolivia. Because the country was still at war, the military agreed to acquiesce to the swearing-in of Vice-President José Luis Tejada.
After the war, Peñaranda's star seemed to dim a bit, as his younger and more left-leaning fellow officers took over the government under Toro and Busch (1936–39) in the so-called Military-Socialist experiment. Peñaranda's experience dealing with Republican Party civilian politicians during his tenure as Commander of the Army seems to have made him more amenable to compromise with the old-style parties than the younger, more impetuous officers like Busch. Following Busch's suicide in 1939, conservative forces re-asserted themselves and, fearful of the growing power of new reformist parties committed to dismantle the existing order, decided to unite under one candidate in a pact called the Concordancia. The Concordancia proclaimed General Peñaranda (a war hero, after all) as its candidate, and he was elected.
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