Paz Estenssoro, Víctor

born Oct. 2, 1907, Tarija, Bol.

died June 7, 2001, Tarija

President of Bolivia (1952–56, 1960–64, 1985–89).

Originally an economics professor, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and then became president in 1952, when the National Revolutionary Movement (MNR), a left-wing organization that he helped found, seized power. He extended the vote to Indians, implemented agrarian reform, and expropriated three major tin companies. He was elected again in 1964 but was overthrown by a military coup the same year. He regained the presidency in 1985 and instituted a program of economic austerity that reduced the hyperinflation that had imperiled the Bolivian economy.

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▪ 2002

      Bolivian statesman (b. Oct. 2, 1907, Tarija, Bol.—d. June 7, 2001, Tarija), was elected president of Bolivia a record four times and was a founder of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) in 1941. During the course of his political career, Paz Estenssoro moved from leftist to free-market policies. He earned a law degree (1927) from the University of San Andrés in La Paz, where he later (1939–41) taught economics. Beginning in the late 1920s, he held a number of government positions, and in 1932–35 he fought in the Chaco War against Paraguay. In 1938 and 1940 Paz Estenssoro was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1951 he was elected president. A military junta prevented his taking office until, after three days of fighting, the MNR seized power in 1952. As president Paz Estenssoro instituted radical changes, expropriating and nationalizing foreign-owned tin mines, extending suffrage to the 80% of Bolivians who had never voted before, and beginning a land-reform program. In 1956 he became ambassador to Britain, and in 1960 he was elected to a second term as president. Paz Estenssoro then began to turn rightward, but he was reelected in 1964 with 70% of the vote. Three months later, however, he was ousted in a military coup. He went into exile in Peru, where he taught economics at the University of Lima until, in 1971, he returned to Bolivia to become an adviser in the military government of Gen. Hugo Banzer Suárez. In 1979 he ran unsuccessfully for president, and in the election of 1985 he ran again. He finished second to Banzer in the popular vote in 1985, but neither had a majority. Congress chose Paz Estenssoro as president, and during his last term he reversed a number of earlier policies. He shut unprofitable tin mines and privatized others, instituted austerity measures to reduce the country's hyperinflation, and introduced a number of financial reforms. In 1989 he resigned as leader of the MNR.

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▪ president of Bolivia

born October 2, 1907, Tarija, Bolivia

died June 7, 2001, Tarija

      Bolivian statesman, founder and principal leader of the left-wing Bolivian political party National Revolutionary Movement (MNR), who served three times as president of Bolivia (1952–56, 1960–64, 1985–89).

      Paz Estenssoro began his career as professor of economics at the University of San Andrés in La Paz. He was economic adviser to President Germán Busch (1937–39) and in 1939 was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. In 1941 he and others established the MNR; when it seized power in 1952, Paz Estenssoro became president. During his administration the right to vote was extended to Indians, the three largest tin companies in the country were expropriated by the government, and an agrarian-reform law began the process of transferring the arable land of the central plateau to the Indians.

      During 1956–60 Paz Estenssoro served as ambassador to the United Kingdom. He again became the MNR candidate for president in 1960 and won a decisive victory. During his second administration, his government reached an agreement with the U.S. government, the Inter-American Development Bank, and West German industrialists providing for a reorganization of the tin industry.

      In the election of 1964, about 70 percent of the eligible voters cast their ballots for Paz Estenssoro. Nevertheless, he was overthrown by a military coup d'état in early November 1964 and went into exile in Peru. He remained in Lima as a professor of economics at the university until August 1971, when he returned to Bolivia as an adviser to the government led by the right-wing president Hugo Banzer Suárez.

      Paz Estenssoro ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1979, and he ran again as the MNR's candidate in July 1985. He finished second to Banzer in the popular vote, in which no candidate gained a majority. On August 5, 1985, Congress elected Paz Estenssoro president, and he was installed the next day. During his tenure, he instituted a program of economic austerity that reduced the hyperinflation that had imperiled Bolivia's economy. He also privatized the tin mines. In 1989 Paz Estenssoro retired from politics.

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