The All Saints' massacre ( es, Masacre de Todos Santos) is the name given to the violent crack-down against popular protests by the military coup regime of
Alberto Natusch Busch that seized power on November 1 (
All Saints' Day
All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the church, whether they are know ...
), 1979. In response to the November 1 coup, the
Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) trade union confederation launched a campaign of mass protests, which were met by violence from the military.
[Asociación de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos y Mártires por la Liberación Nacional (Bolivia), Fundación Solón, and Capítulo Boliviano de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo. ''Informe sobre las desapariciones forzadas en Bolivia''. La Paz: ASOFAMD, 2008. p. 20]
The week after the coup, on November 5–6, 1979, Natusch Busch gave orders to intensify the crack-down. The soldiers of colonel Doria Medina were allowed to act without control in
La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
. Riot control vehicles were sent out into various parts of the city. A helicopter, rented from the U.S. company Groves Limited, was used to shoot down protestors. However, these measures did not prevent the continuation of mass protests. La Paz residents took to the streets, pelting rocks against the armed forces and constructed barricades.
[Dunkerley, James, and Rose Marie Vargas Jastram. ]
Rebelión en las venas: la lucha política en Bolivia
'. La Paz, Bolivia: Plural, 2003. p. 326
More than 100 people were killed, 204 injured and 20 '
disappeared
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organi ...
' during the brief existence of the Natusch Busch regime (Dunkerley states that more than 200 were killed, and 125 'disappeared').
The majority of the victims were killed during the days of November 5 and 6, and almost all of them in the city of La Paz. The number of deaths of the two-week-long rule of Natusch Busch is comparable to the seven years of military rule under
Hugo Banzer
Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 in a military dictatorship; and then a ...
.
Sixteen days after the beginning of the coup, the military regime stepped down as a result of the popular protests.
As of 2008, the perpetrators of the killings have not been brought to justice.
Heridos y olvidados de los que gobernaron Bolivia
'
References
1979 in Bolivia
Massacres in Bolivia
Political repression in Bolivia
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