Editing Hugo Banzer (section)

{{short description|51st President of Bolivia}}
{{family name hatnote|Banzer|Suárez|lang=Spanish}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2010}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Hugo Banzer
| image               = Hugo Banzer - 2.jpg
| caption             = Banzer in 1971
<!-- President -->| order               = 51st
| office              = President of Bolivia
| vicepresident       = Jorge Quiroga
| term_start          = 6 August 1997
| term_end            = 7 August 2001
| predecessor         = [[Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada]]
| successor           = [[Jorge Quiroga]]
| vicepresident2      = ''Vacant''
| term_start2         = 21 August 1971
| term_end2           = 21 July 1978
| predecessor2        = [[Juan José Torres]]
| successor2          = [[Juan Pereda]]
<!-- Political Offices -->| office3             = [[Ministry of Education (Bolivia)|Minister of Education and Culture]]
| president3          = [[René Barrientos]]<br />[[Alfredo Ovando Candía]]
| term_start3         = 5 November 1964
| term_end3           = 6 August 1966
| predecessor3        = [[Carlos Serrate]]
| successor3          = Edgar Ortiz Lema
<!-- Personal Details -->| birth_name          = Hugo Banzer Suárez
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1926|5|10|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Concepción, Santa Cruz|Concepción]], [[Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia)|Santa Cruz]], [[History of Bolivia (1920–1964)|Republic of Bolivia]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2002|5|5|1926|5|10|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Santa Cruz, Bolivia|Santa Cruz]], [[History of Bolivia (1982–present)|Republic of Bolivia]]
| party               = [[Nationalist Democratic Action]]
| education           = Military College of the Army<br />Armored Cavalry School<br />[[School of the Americas]]
| spouse              = Yolanda Prada
| children            = 5
| parents             = César Banzer<br />Luisa Suárez
| awards              = [[File:BOL Order of Condor of the Andes - Grand Cross BAR.png|23px]] [[Order of the Condor of the Andes]]<br />[[Image:Order of Isabella the Catholic - Sash of Collar.svg|22px]] [[Order of Isabella the Catholic]]<br />[[Image:PER Order of the Sun of Peru - Grand Cross BAR.png|22px]] [[Order of the Sun of Peru]]
| signature           = Signature of Hugo Banzer Suárez (1926-2002).svg
<!-- Military Service -->| allegiance          = {{flag|Bolivia}}
| branch              = {{army|Bolivia}}
| serviceyears        = 1952–1978
| rank                = [[General]]
| unit                = 
| commands            = 
| battles             = 
| otherparty          = [[Nationalist Popular Front]]
}}

'''Hugo Banzer{{efn|In [[Spanish language|Spanish]] [[orthography]], ''Banzer'' should be spelled ''Bánzer'', but because Banzer is originally a German name, it is left intact.}} Suárez''' ({{IPA|es|ˈuɣo ˈβanseɾ ˈswaɾes}}; 10 May 1926 &ndash; 5 May 2002) was a [[Bolivia]]n politician and military officer who served as the 51st [[president of Bolivia]]. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again from 1997 to 2001, as a democratically elected president.

Banzer rose to power via a [[coup d'état]] against socialist president [[Juan José Torres]] and repressed labor leaders, clergymen, indigenous people, and students during his 1971–1978 dictatorship. Several thousand Bolivians were either forced to seek asylum in foreign countries, arrested, tortured, or killed during this period, known as the ''Banzerato''.

After Banzer's removal via a coup led by [[Juan Pereda]], he remained an influential figure in Bolivian politics and would run for election to the presidency via the ballot box on several occasions, eventually succeeding in [[1997 Bolivian general election|1997]] via a narrow plurality of 22.26% of the popular vote. During Banzer's constitutional term, he extended presidential term limits from four years to five and presided over the [[Cochabamba Water War]], declaring a [[State of emergency|state of siege]] in 2000 that suspended several civil liberties and led to violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2511&lang=en |title=International Commission of Jurists |website=www.icj.org |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606142639/http://www.icj.org/news.php3?id_article=2511&lang=en |archive-date=6 June 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After being diagnosed with lung cancer, Banzer resigned in 2001 and was succeeded by Vice President [[Jorge Quiroga]].