Concepción, 1926 – Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia), 2002

By Latinoamerican Team

A career military officer, General Hugo Banzer Suárez served as President of Bolivia twice: first through a coup d’état and second through electoral means. He first came to power via a military coup against the leftist government of fellow General Juan José Torres in 1971, holding the position until 1978.

His government was consistent with other contemporary military dictatorships in the Southern Cone. As a dictator, he systematically violated human rights and participated in Operation Condor, a joint repression of democratic resistance movements, while also implementing a program to open the Bolivian economy to foreign capital.

He was ousted by another military coup and subsequently founded a political party: the Nationalist Democratic Alliance (ADN), through which he ran for president in 1980, 1989, and 1993, but was only elected in 1997.

His second term was guided by U.S. directives for the continent, focusing on the eradication of coca—a policy that failed and left a significant issue for his successors. Suffering from cancer, he resigned from office in 2001 and died in 2002.