Abstract
Bolivia was part of the Inca Empire until conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century. Independence was won and the Republic of Bolivia was proclaimed on 6 Aug. 1825. During the first 154 years of its independence, Bolivia had 189 governments, many of them installed by coups. In the 1960s the Argentinian revolutionary and former minister of the Cuban government, Ernesto ’Che’ Guevara, was killed in Bolivia while fighting with a left-wing guerrilla group. In 1971 Bolivia was governed briefly by the revolutionary Popular Assembly. Repression under Gen. Hugo Banzer took a heavy toll on the left-wing parties. Banzer was followed by a succession of military-led governments until civilian rule was restored in Oct. 1982 when Dr Siles Zuazo became president. He introduced economic reforms embracing free markets and open trade which succeeded in restoring stability but also widened the gap between rich and poor. Amid growing discontent, in Dec. 2005 Evo Morales Ayma was elected as the country’s first indigenous president.
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Further Reading
Jemio, Luis Carlos, Debt, Crisis and Reform in Bolivia: Biting the Bullet. 2001
Klein, Herbert S., A Concise History of Bolivia. 2003
Morales, Waltraud Q., Bolivia. 2004
Munoz-Pogossian, Betilde, Electoral Rules and the Transformation of Bolivian Politics: The Rise of Evo Morales. 2008
National Statistical Office: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Av. Jose Carrasco 1391, CP 6129, La Paz.
Website (Spanish only): http://www.ine.gob.bo
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© 2012 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Turner, B. (2012). Bolivia. In: Turner, B. (eds) The Statesman’s Yearbook. The Statesman’s Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-59541-9_180
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-59541-9_180
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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