Editing Hugo Banzer (section)

=={{visible anchor|Dictatorship (1971–1978)|Dictatorship}}==
On 17 August 1971, Banzer, at long last, masterminded a successful military uprising that erupted in [[Santa Cruz, Bolivia|Santa Cruz de la Sierra]], where he had many supporters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gobierno Banzer – Espacio de la memoria |url=https://www.lapaz.bo/memoria/gobierno-banzer/ |access-date=2022-10-25 |language=es |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118034143/https://www.lapaz.bo/memoria/gobierno-banzer/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Eventually, the plotters gained control over the [[La Paz, Bolivia|La Paz]] garrisons, although not without considerable bloodshed. The combined levels of [[United States]] and [[Brazil]]ian involvement for the [[coup d'état]] have been debated but according to [[Stephen Zunes]] it is apparent that significant clandestine financial and advisory assistance existed at a critical level within the [[Nixon administration]] for Banzer.<ref name="zunes">{{cite news|last1=Zunes|first1=Stephen|title=U.S. Intervention in Bolivia|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-zunes/us-intervention-in-bolivi_b_127528.html|access-date=11 August 2016|publisher=Huffington Post|date=25 May 2011|quote=When an attempted coup by rightist general Hugo Bánzer Suárez was threatened by a breakdown in the plotters' radio communications, the U.S. Air Force made their radio communications available to them. Though this first attempted takeover was crushed, Bánzer was able to seize power by August of the following year in a bloody uprising, also with apparent U.S. support.}}</ref>{{better source|blog post|date=August 2022}}
[[File:GralHugoBanzerSuarez.jpg|left|thumb|Official photograph, 1971]]With such backing secured, Banzer emerged as the strong man of the new regime, and, on 22 August, was given full power as president. Conversely, President [[Juan José Torres]] was forced to take refuge in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]] where five years later he was [[Kidnapping|kidnapped]] and [[assassinated]] by right-wing [[death squads]] associated with the [[National Reorganization Process|Videla government]] and with the acquiescence of Banzer. His murder was part of [[Operation Condor]]. Banzer received the political support of the center-right [[Nationalist Revolutionary Movement|Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario]] (MNR) of former president [[Víctor Paz Estenssoro]] and the conservative [[Bolivian Socialist Falange|Falange Socialista Boliviana]] of [[Mario Gutiérrez (politician)|Mario Gutiérrez]], considered to be the two largest parties in the country. For the next seven years, and with the rank of army general, he ruled Bolivia as dictator.

Frustrated by the political divisions and protests that characterized the Torres and Ovando years, and, traditionally an enemy of dissent and freedom of speech, Banzer banned all the left-leaning parties, suspended the powerful [[Central Obrera Boliviana]], and closed the nation's universities. "Order" was now the paramount aim, and no means were spared to restore authority and stifle dissent. Buoyed by the initial legitimacy provided by Paz and Gutierrez's support, the dictator ruled with a measure of civilian support until 1974, when the main parties realized he did not intend to hold elections and was instead using them to perpetuate himself in power. At that point, Banzer dispensed with all pretenses and banned all political activity, exiled all major leaders (Paz Estenssoro included), and proceeded to rule henceforth solely with military support.

Human rights groups claim that during Banzer's 1971–1978 tenure (known as the ''Banzerato'') several thousand Bolivians sought asylum in foreign countries, 3,000 political opponents were arrested, 200 were killed, and many more were tortured. In the basement of the Ministry of the Interior or "the horror chambers" around 2,000 political prisoners were held and tortured during the 1971–1978 military rule.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7925694.stm | work=BBC News | title=Hidden cells reveal Bolivia's dark past | date=5 March 2009 | access-date=4 May 2010}}</ref> Many others simply disappeared.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1969327.stm|title=Former Bolivian president dies|date=5 May 2002|access-date=10 October 2019|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Among the victims of the regime were Colonel Andrés Selich, Banzer's first Minister of the Interior and co-conspirator in the August 1971 coup. Selich was accused of plotting to overthrow Banzer and died of blows sustained while in custody. Two other leaders with sufficient stature to potentially eclipse the dictator were murdered under suspicious circumstances while in exile: General Joanquin Zenteno Anaya and former president Juan José Torres, both in 1976. [[Klaus Barbie]], former head of the [[Gestapo]] de [[Lyon]], was integrated into the special services in order to "renew" repression techniques and received Bolivian nationality. During the Banzer government, drug trafficking experienced an unprecedented expansion that lasted until the 1980s.

Much of the stability achieved by the ''Banzerato'' was sustained by the constant flow of easy credit from abroad, which was often used on mammoth "[[white elephant]]" projects of dubious usefulness but which nonetheless impressed certain sectors of the population. The loans would soon raise Bolivia's external debt to record levels, but proved useful in the manipulation of political patronage. In 1975, Banzer restored diplomatic relations with Chile, broken since 1962, with an eye toward obtaining an access to the Pacific Ocean, denied to Bolivia since the loss of its maritime coast in the 19th century [[War of the Pacific]]. The Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] offered a narrow outlet just north of the port of Arica, on the border with Peru, on lands that had previously belonged to that country. According to the terms of the treaty that handed that territory to Chile, Peru had to agree to any proposal of transferring that land to a third party. Peru refused to accept the Pinochet proposal and instead created its own counter-proposal, which declared Arica and its waters an area of joint-sovereignty between the three nations. Chile refused this proposal and talks with Bolivia ended. Diplomatic relations were once again frozen in 1978.

===Democratic opening of 1978 and toppling===
Pressure from the [[Carter administration]] forced{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Banzer to institute a carefully regulated "democratic opening" in 1978. A restricted amnesty was declared, and the country prepared for [[1978 Bolivian general election|democratic elections]]. Since the Bolivian constitution did not at the time allow a sitting president to immediately succeed himself, Banzer initially endorsed General [[Juan Pereda]] as the regime's candidate. It was assumed that Pereda would be elected with government "help" at the polls, rule for four years, and then allow Banzer to return as constitutional president once he had time to polish up his image and transition to civilian politics. However, by election time the popularity of a left-wing coalition of former president [[Hernán Siles Zuazo|Hernán Siles]] was such that nothing could disguise it.

Nonetheless, the elections of 9 July were rigged. Official results showed Pereda not only far ahead of Siles, but with just a few thousand votes over the threshold to win the presidency outright.  However, massive protests brought the country to a halt, and independent organizations agreed that all exit polls indicated that Siles had actually won handily.  It later emerged that some 200,000 more votes were cast than the total number of registered voters.

With the evidence of irregularities too great to ignore, Banzer had the Electoral Court annul the elections. He denounced the electoral fraud, blaming it on Pereda and his supporters. He declared he would call fresh elections within a year or two.

However, Pereda and other officers felt Banzer was manipulating them for his own political ends. They overthrew Banzer in a coup on 21 July. Pereda blamed Banzer for the fraud and promised to call elections in the future, though he did not specify a time frame. Pereda, in turn, was overthrown in November 1978 by democratically oriented officers under General [[David Padilla]] who, embarrassed by the events of the last few months, and suspecting that Pereda did not intend to call new elections either, promptly set a firm date for a return to civilian rule.