The Bolivian Revolution of 1952 (), also known as the Revolution of '52, was a series of political demonstrations led by the

Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( es, Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario , MNR) is a centre-right conservative political party in Bolivia and was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenc ...

(RNM, MNR), which, in alliance with liberals and communists, sought to overthrow the ruling Bolivian oligarchy and implement a new socioeconomic model in Bolivia. Its main leaders were the former presidents

Víctor Paz Estenssoro Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro (2 October 1907 – 7 June 2001) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 45th president of Bolivia for three nonconsecutive and four total terms from 1952 to 1956, 1960 to 1964 and 1985 to 1989. He ran for pr ...

and

Hernán Siles Zuazo Hernán Siles Zuazo (21 March 1914 – 6 August 1996) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 46th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1956 to 1960 and from 1982 to 1985. He also briefly served as interim president in April 195 ...

. The MNR government after this Revolution lasted from 9 April 1952 until the coup of 4 November 1964. In these twelve years, there was a co-government and at the same time a power struggle between the party and the labor unions. The Revolution of 1952 sought to implement the rights to vote in Bolivia, the distribution of land and State control over natural resources and the Bolivian economy. In addition, it incorporated the peasant and female sector into political life by establishing

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

. It was a political Revolution that at the time was equated to the Mexican Revolution and that preceded the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

. It developed in the context of the Cold War and was the only one of the social revolutions in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

that had the support of the United States.

Background

The origins of this revolution may have began during the Great Depression and Bolivia's defeat in the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko Ñorairõmining industry Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

, sponsored the entry of the State into the economy through foreign exchange control and the allocation of tin export quotas among the different producers. Likewise, during the 20s, the nationalist government of

Hernando Siles Reyes Hernando Siles Reyes (5 August 1882 – 23 November 1942) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 31st president of Bolivia from 1926 to 1930. The founder of the Nationalist Party, he soon gravitated toward the Saavedrista faction of t ...

tried to apply corrective measures to some fundamental socioeconomic problems in the country. The following decade, the military governments of

Germán Busch Víctor Germán Busch Becerra (23 March 1903 – 23 August 1939) was a Bolivian military officer and statesman who served as the 36th president of Bolivia from 1937 to 1939. Prior to his presidency, he served as the Chief of the General Staff ...

and David Toro deepened these measures with the influence of European nationalism. On the other hand, the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko ÑorairõÓscar Únzaga de la Vega, who led the Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB), with influences from the Christian democracy of Jacques Maritain and the Social Doctrine of the Church, promoted above all by

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

and Pope Pius XI, and , founder of the

Revolutionary Left Party The Revolutionary Left Party ( es, Partido de la Izquierda Revolucionaria, PIR) was a communist party in Bolivia. It was founded by Dr. José Antonio Arze and other Bolivian intellectuals on 26 July 1940 during a left-wing congress held in Oru ...

. In May 1949, after a general strike, a severe conflict broke out in the Siglo XX mines, owned by

Simón Iturri Patiño Simón Iturri Patiño (1 June 1862 – 20 April 1947) was a Bolivian industrialist who was among the world's wealthiest people at the time of his death. With a fortune built from ownership of a majority of the tin industry in Bolivia, Patiño ...

, in the department of Potosí. President

Mamerto Urriolagoitía Mamerto Urriolagoitia Harriague (; 5 December 1895 – 4 June 1974) was a Bolivian lawyer and politician who was the 43rd president of Bolivia, from 1949 to 1951. A member of the Republican Socialist Unity Party, he had previously been the 26t ...

ordered the arrest of some leaders, and in response the miners took two foreign employees hostage and ended up killing them. The government reacted with military intervention and the tragic Siglo XX Massacre. On 27 August, the Civil War of 1949 broke out, through which the MNR led an uprising in four cities in Bolivia. After a few days, a revolutionary government emerged in the department of Santa Cruz in the east of the country, led by Edmundo Roca, a member of the Acción Obrera group, who joined the MNR. During these events, the revolutionaries had under control more than half of the country, mainly the cities of

Cochabamba Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 630 ...

and Santa Cruz. Armed clashes took place in the Santa Cruz towns of

Yacuiba Yacuiba is a city in southern Bolivia and the capital city of Gran Chaco Province in the Tarija Department. It lies three kilometers from the Argentine border. It has a population of approximately 80,000 and lies above sea level. Yacuiba is one ...

(under the command of ), Camiri and

Incahuasi Incahuasi (; possibly from Quechua: ''inka'' Inca, ''wasi'' house) is a volcanic mountain in the Andes of South America. It lies on the border of the Catamarca Province of Argentina and the Atacama Region of Chile. Incahuasi has a summit elevat ...

. The Revolution proclaimed

as president and Edmundo Roca as vice president, despite the fact that the former was in exile. Meanwhile, Urriolagoitia mobilized the army commanded by General Ovidio Quiroga, who managed to reconquer first Cochabamba and then Santa Cruz. Bomber aircraft were required for military operations in both cities. After retaking the main square, some leaders of the movement, such as Lidio Ustarez, were shot in the Manchego Barracks. Multiple workers took over the mines and a strike was declared in several mineral industrial centers. By 1 September, the government had retaken control of the country, and on 15 September, many of the Santa Cruz insurgents fled.

Chronology

In May 1951,

Victor Paz Estenssoro The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French sho ...

of the

(MNR) wins the presidential election, gaining large support of labor workers due to his

anti-imperialist Anti-imperialism in political science and international relations is a term used in a variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger polity (usually in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic so ...

and anti-government sentiment. A Government Military Junta was immediately formed to prevent the MNR from coming to power. Given this reaction by the army, a year later, a coup d'état led by police general took place on April 9 with the civilian support of Hernán Siles Suazo and the mining leader Juan Lechin Oquendo, both from the MNR. The Police Corps had large involvement in initiating the revolt that later had the support of the population, the workers of

Villa Victoria Villa Victoria is a municipality in Mexico State in Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the sout ...

and the miners who arrived from the Milluni mine. Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1964) - CROPPED

On 9 April 1952, the Carabineros and the Police Corps was institutionally mobilized by the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, General Seleme, and they took over strategic institutions, such as prefectures and radio stations to spread the news. Also mobilized was Capitan Zeballos and 21 de Julio police regiments, the Departmental Police Brigade, cadets from the Police and Police School, and the General Directorate of Police and Carabineros, all with weapons and ammunition, to take over strategic areas. Arms and ammunition were distributed to the civilians of the MNR who attended, as well as to the many volunteers, workers, above all, coming from the Departmental Brigade, the General Directorate and the Carabineros regiments. The Plaza Antofagasta arsenal, taken over by Army Captain Israel Téllez, had already been distributed to civilian combatants. But General Torres Ortiz, involved in the uprising, distanced himself at the last minute and had the army quartered. Dr. Siles Suazo sought asylum at the Nunciature that same day. Seeing the uncontrollable popular overflow, General Seleme resigned from leading the "Revolutionary Government". Lechín Oquendo, top leader of the Miners' Federation, remained, directing the uprising in the streets with the slogans "Agrarian reform" and "Nationalization of mines." Palacio quemado

Lechín Oquendo, top leader of the Miners' Federation, remained, leading the uprising in the streets with the slogans "Agrarian reform" and "Nationalization of mines." General Seleme resigns from leading the “Revolutionary Government”. Lechín Oquendo, top leader of the Miners' Federation, remained, leading the uprising in the streets with the slogans "Agrarian reform" and "Nationalization of mines". On Thursday, 10 April, the fighting continued. Lechin Oquendo, leading the Milluni miners, took the Hunting Air Group and from there sent planes to drop pamphlets over the Miraflores Great Barracks, urging them to surrender. The people stormed the Garita de Lima checkpoint, took out weapons and ammunition and continued fighting. On Friday, 11 April, Lechín together with Rolando Requena went to take out the Great Barracks. Later, supported by the rebels, they took control of the Palacio Quemado, the official residence of the

President of Bolivia The president of Bolivia ( es, Presidente de Bolivia), officially known as the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia ( es, Presidente del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia), is head of state and head of government of Bolivia and the ca ...

. Hours later, the MNR politicians arrived, who did not see fit to carry out the "agrarian reform" (many of them were landowners) or the "Nationalization of mines." In the end, Dr. Siles Suazo relented because Lechín argued that those slogans led people to offer his life, and it was the immense crowd that was, at that very moment, outside, in the plaza, chanting the revolutionary victory hymn. The defeat of the army claimed a balance of 490 dead. Hernán Siles Zuazo and Lechin Oquendo assumed command of the government until

, who had been in exile in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, returned a few days later. On 12 April, the military surrendered. The prisoners were forced to parade through La Paz in underwear, guarded by the mine workers.

Aftermath and reform

Universal suffrage

On 24 June 1952, the government introduced

. By granting the rights to vote for the illiterate, indigenous peoples and women, the number of voters increased from 205,000 (6.6% of the total population) in 1951 to 1,125,000 (33.8%) in 1956. The expansion of the right to vote was a radical measure in the

n context. For example, the vote for women was only granted in Brazil in 1934, in Chile in 1949, in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and Colombia in 1951, in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 1955 and in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

in 1956. The vote was granted in 1980 in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and only in 1986 in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Bolivian Workers' Center

The

Bolivian Workers' Center The Bolivian Workers' Center ( es, Central Obrera Boliviana, COB) is the chief trade union federation in Bolivia. It was founded in 1952 following the national revolution that brought the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement to power. The most imp ...

was founded on 17 April, 1952 with the aim of integrating the unions of miners, factories, railway workers, banks, graphics, industry and commerce employees, builders, bakers and farmers. Its first executive secretary was Juan Lechín Oquendo , who had been executive secretary of the Trade Union Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB) founded in 1944. Lechín was also Minister of Mines and Petroleum in Víctor Paz Estenssoro's first cabinet. Among the main objectives of the COB was to fight for the nationalization of the mines and railways, for the agrarian revolution and the repeal of anti-worker measures dictated by previous governments. Throughout the MNR government, the COB was "the radical revolutionary wing" of the revolution demanding the acceleration and deepening of social and economic changes.At the same time, labor relations during the MNR government were turbulent. It is estimated that an average of 350 strikes were carried out per year between 1952 and 1958 with a negative effect on production, making Bolivia amongst the highest in terms 'ghost worker' rates.

Educational Reform

In 1952, 20.8% of the population of that age were in primary school and two thirds of the population (60.9%) were illiterate. A year after the start of the Revolution and in order to adapt the educational system to the reforms, in 1953 the government created the National Commission for Educational Reform, which presented its proposal in 120 days. It was not until 1955 that the Bolivian Education Code was enacted due to demands from the teaching profession. The Code divided the educational system into an urban area, in charge of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, and rural education in charge of the recently created Ministry of Peasant Affairs. The Code sought to extend education to the majority and re-orient education towards technical education. It also raised the importance of castilianizing the Bolivia's Indigenous communities.

Disbandment of the army

The MNR reduced the size of the army from approximately 20,000 to 5,000 soldiers between April 1952 and January 1953 by discharging conscripts. In addition, it is estimated that the MNR retired around 300 officers. The army budget was cut from 20% of the general budget to half in 1953 and to 6.7% in 1957. In replacement of the army, the MNR formed urban and rural militias with workers and peasants. Between 1952 and 1956, the police and popular militias predominated in internal security and public order. From 1956 to 1964, the legitimacy of the militias and the importance of the police was reduced as the army was reconstituted, which predominated in internal security and public order.

Agrarian reform

In the mid-20th century, Bolivia had a latifundist agrarian system characterized by unequal land tenure, semi-feudal working conditions, and a low capacity to provide food to Bolivia. Approximately 4.5% of the population owned 70% of the agricultural land. Agricultural work consisted of a system of labor control through access to land through labor benefits. Also, the indigenous people had to contribute with seeds, tools and animals to carry out the work. In addition to agricultural labor obligations, the indigenous people were obliged to offer personal services left over during the colonial periods to the landowner and his family. The inefficiency of the agricultural sector was such that between 35 to 40 percent of imports were food. In January 1953, an Agrarian Reform Commission was organized, chaired by Vice President

with members of opposition parties. On 2 August 1953, in Ucureña,

, the Agrarian Reform Decree was signed. The decree offered indemnity to landowners and granted hacienda lands to Indians through their unions and communities on the condition that they not be sold personally. The reform implementation system was cumbersome. Of the 15,322 cases initiated between 1953 and 1966, only 7,322 or 48.8% were concluded. Between 1954 and 1968, the National Agrarian Reform Service had processed eight million of the approximately thirty-six million hectares to be distributed. In the subsequent 30 years, however, an additional 39 million hectares (reaching a total of 47 million hectares) were distributed with more than 650,000 beneficiaries.

Controversy

Although the Bolivian Revolution is considered one of the three most important social revolutions in

(alongside the Mexican Revolution and the

) it was not exempt from criticism. Its main shortcomings revolve around the brutality of Political Control, the governing body of the MNR compared to the Nazi Gestapo. This institution promoted a strong repression against opponents of the new regime. The MNR installed concentration camps in rural towns in the Bolivian Andes, such as Catavi,

Uncía Uncía is a town located in the Potosí Department Potosí (; Aymara: ''Putusi''; qu, P'utuqsi) is a department in southwestern Bolivia. It comprises 118,218 km2 with 823,517 inhabitants (2012 census). The capital is the city of Potos� ...

Corocoro is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, established on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school-aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the ''Pokémo ...

and Curahuara de Carangas. Numerous political opponents of the MNR, both

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and Falangists, were tortured in overcrowded prisons. It was in the mid-sixties, after the coup d'état led by General

René Barrientos René Barrientos Ortuño (30 May 1919 – 27 April 1969) was a Bolivian military officer and politician who served as the 47th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1964 to 1966 and from 1966 to 1969. During much of his first term, ...

, that a series of human rights violations perpetrated by the MNR regime began to be escalate. Among the victims of the concentration camps are the philosophers Numa Romero del Carpio and Roberto Prudencio Romecín, whose homes were also looted. The historian Alberto Crespo Rodas, Marshal

Bernardino Bilbao Rioja Bernardino Bilbao Rioja (20 May 1895 in Arampampa – 13 May 1983 in La Paz) was a Bolivian officer who served during the Chaco War (1932–35). He pioneered the use of air forces in combat (the first to be used in this capacity in Sout ...

, several journalists from the newspaper '' La Razón'' and members of the opposition parties were also imprisoned.

References

{{Revolutionary Nationalist Movement 1952 in Bolivia Protests in Bolivia Revolutionary Nationalist Movement Military coups in Bolivia Revolutions in Bolivia