Bernardino Bilbao Rioja (20 May 1895 in

Arampampa Arampampa is a small town in Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , f ...

– 13 May 1983 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 ...

) was a

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

n officer who served during the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko Ñorairõair force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

s in combat (the first to be used in this capacity in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

). Bilbao had already made enemies among his cohorts when he refused to participate in the 1930 coup against

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 ...

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 th ...

. This enmity led him to be vetoed for most major promotions within the military, both during the war and after. One of the reasons for the 1934 military uprising that toppled the

Constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

President

Daniel Salamanca Urey Daniel Domingo Salamanca Urey (8 July 1869 – 17 July 1935) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 33rd president of Bolivia from 1931 to 1934 until he was overthrown in a ''coup d'état'' on November 27, 1934, during the country's ...

was the latter's desire to replace the ineffective current commanders with Generals

Lanza Lanza may refer to: People Surname * Adam Lanza (1992–2012), American spree killer and perpetrator of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting * Alcides Lanza (born 1929), Canadian composer * Andrew Lanza (born 1964), New York State senato ...

and Bilbao Rioja at the head of the army. After the war, Bilbao's popularity converted him into a potential enemy to the aspirations of the likes of Col. David Toro Ruilova and Gen.

Enrique Peñaranda Enrique Peñaranda del Castillo (15 November 1892 – 22 December 1969) was a Bolivian general who served as the 38th president of Bolivia from 1940 until his overthrow in 1943. He previously served as commander-in-chief of the country's armed ...

. In particular, it was rumored that Bilbao would present himself in the 1940 elections against Peñaranda, a prospect that obviously troubled Peñaranda's supporters in the "Concordancia" (the agglomeration of most of the oligarchic, old-style parties united behind one candidate). Thus, Bilbao was promptly detained and then flown to exile in Chile. But he eventually returned, and indeed, ran for President in 1951 and 1966, both times representing the right-of-center

Bolivian Socialist Falange The Bolivian Socialist Falange ( es, Falange Socialista Boliviana) is a Bolivian political party established in 1937. It is a far-rightJohn, S (2006) ''Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism, 1928-2005'', p. 445 party drawing ...

. In the 1951 election, he placed third while

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 pre ...

of 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 influen ...

came first; the anti-system MNR and FSB won a combined majority of the vote, which was to be followed by the 1952 Revolution. In 1966, he finished a distant second to

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, ...

. Despite losing both elections, he remained a popular and respected figure. Bilbao Rioja died in

on May 13, 1983, at age 87.

References

External links

Law N.0824
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rioja, Bernardino Bilbao 1895 births 1983 deaths 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian generals Bolivian Socialist Falange politicians Candidates in the 1940 Bolivian presidential election Candidates in the 1951 Bolivian presidential election Candidates in the 1966 Bolivian presidential election Military College of the Army alumni People from Bernardino Bilbao Province People of the Chaco War