Military Coup in Bolivia 1951

The Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario -- MNR) attempted to gain power by legal means in 1951. In the Bolivian presidential elections of 1951, Victor Paz Estenssoro, founder and leader of the MNR (while remaining in exile in Argentina), ran for president and Hernán Siles Zuazo ran for vice president, both on a platform of nationalization and land reform. With the support of the Revolutionary Workers Party (Partido Obrero Revolucionario -- POR) and the newly formed Bolivian Communist Party (Partido Comunista de Bolivia -- PCB), Estenssoro won with a clear plurality. The government claimed Estenssoro did not have the required majority and the president must be chosen by the congress. Then, the outgoing president, Mamerto Urriolagoitia Harriague, persuaded the military to step in and prevent the MNR from taking power. On May 16, 1951, Bolivia's outgoing president resigned and turned the government over a 10-man military junta led by General Hugo Ballivián Rojas. Under Ballivián, the government made a last futile attempt to suppress the growing unrest throughout the country.

References

Timelines of War, 461; Military History, 1464; Dictionary of Wars, 64; Bolivia - A Country Study.

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