Jaime Paz Zamora
| Jaime Paz Zamora | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 73rd President of Bolivia | |
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In office 6 August 1989 – 6 August 1993 |
|
| Vice President | Luis Ossio |
| Preceded by | Víctor Paz Estenssoro |
| Succeeded by | Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada |
| Vice President of Bolivia | |
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In office 10 October 1982 – 14 December 1984 |
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| President | Hernán Siles Zuazo |
| Preceded by | Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas |
| Succeeded by | Julio Garrett Ayllón |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 April 1939 Cochabamba, Bolivia |
| Nationality | Bolivia |
| Political party | MIR |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced from Carmen Pereira Carballo |
Jaime Paz Zamora (born April 15, 1939) was President of Bolivia from August 6, 1989 to August 6, 1993. He also served as Vice-President between 1982 and 1984.
Jaime Paz (Related to three-time President of Bolivia Víctor Paz Estenssoro [First cousin with his father general of the Bolivian navy: Nestor Paz Galarza) studied in Belgium and became an ardent supporter of left-wing/progressive causes in the turbulent 1960s. Exiled by dictator Hugo Banzer, in 1971 he co-founded in Chile the Revolutionary Left Movement (Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria, MIR), originally a member of the Socialist International. Soon, the MIR attracted the support of a large portion of the Marxist intelligentsia, especially university students. Upon returning to Bolivia in 1978, Paz's MIR cemented an alliance with the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario de Izquierda of former President Hernán Siles. The result was the formation of the Unidad Democrática y Popular (UDP). It was a mutually beneficial pact, since Siles offered everything the MIR lacked (experience and legitimacy with the working class stemming from the 1952 Revolution) while Paz, in turn, provided Siles what he did not have: the support of the university students and younger intellectuals.
The UDP participated in the June 1978 elections, with Siles at the head of the ticket and, by all accounts won a plurality. The vote was annulled, however, due to the discovery of massive fraud on behalf of the officialist candidate, General Juan Pereda. New elections were conducted in 1979. They, too, turned out to be a fiasco, as the UDP's Hernán Siles, with Paz as his vice-presidential running mate, finished first at the ballot box, but without attaining the 50% majority necessary for direct election. Thus, it was left to Congress to determine the next Chief Executive, as stipulated in the Bolivian Constitution. Surprisingly (or perhaps not, given the lack of democratic practice in Bolivia at that time) Congress could not agree on any candidate, no matter how many votes were taken. Eventually, Congress proclaimed as temporary President the head of the Senate, Dr. Wálter Guevara, pending the calling of yet a new round of elections in 1980.
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