Celso Torrelio Villa (3 June 1933 – 23 April 1999) was a military general and a member of the Junta of Commanders of the Armed Forces (1981), who served as the de facto 58th

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 ...

from 1981 to 1982. A native of Padilla, department of Chuquisaca, Torrelio joined the

Bolivian Army The Bolivian Army ( es, Ejército Boliviano) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. Figures on the size and composition of the Bolivian army vary considerably, with little official data available. It is estimated that the arm ...

and rose to the rank of general. He served as the notorious

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

Luis García Meza Luis García Meza Tejada (8 August 1929 – 29 April 2018) was a Bolivian general who served as the ''de facto'' 57th president of Bolivia from 1980 to 1981. He was a dictator convicted of human rights violations and leader of a violent coup. ...

's Minister of Interior after the departure, forced by Washington, of the equally-infamous Colonel

Luis Arce Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (; born 28 September 1963), often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he previously serve ...

. The García Meza regime became internationally known for its extreme brutality. Some 1,000 people are estimated to have been killed by the

Bolivian army The Bolivian Army ( es, Ejército Boliviano) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. Figures on the size and composition of the Bolivian army vary considerably, with little official data available. It is estimated that the arm ...

and security forces between July 1980 and August 1981. In addition, the García Meza government was deeply involved in

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

activities, and may have come to power financed directly by the

drug cartel A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the ...

s. This led to the complete isolation of the regime. Even the new

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

government of U.S. President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

kept its distance and seemed to prefer better options. Eventually, the international outcry was sufficiently strong to force García Meza's resignation on 3 August 1981. The high command of the

Military of Bolivia The Bolivian Armed Forces ( Spanish: ''Fuerzas Armadas de Bolivia'') are the military of Bolivia. The Armed Forces of Bolivia are responsible for the defence, both of external and internal, of Bolivia and they are constituted by Bolivian Army, ...

at that point entrusted General Celso Torrelio with the presidency. Although the military's idea was to replace the polarizing García Meza with a less controversial and more acceptable leader equally as committed to the principles of the

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

National Security Doctrine, their plan did not come to fruition. The regime continued to be shunned internationally and despised domestically. Furthermore, a very grave economic crisis loomed on the horizon, the result of years of mismanagement, a

global recession A global recession is recession that affects many countries around the world—that is, a period of global economic slowdown or declining economic output. Definitions The International Monetary Fund defines a global recession as "a decline i ...

, and the onset of the so-called

Latin American debt crisis The Latin American debt crisis ( es, Crisis de la deuda latinoamericana; pt, Crise da dívida latino-americana) was a financial crisis that originated in the early 1980s (and for some countries starting in the 1970s), often known as ''La Décad ...

. Faced with the choices of mounting a fresh repressive campaign to re-equilibrate the reeling regime (with the increased

international isolation International isolation is a penalty applied by the international community or a sizeable or powerful group of countries, like the United Nations, towards one nation, government or group of people. The same term may also refer to the state a coun ...

such a move would entail) or call elections, the high command chose the latter. In July 1982, General Torrelio was replaced with General

Guido Vildoso General Guido Hernán Vildoso Calderón (born 5 April 1937, La Paz, Bolivia) is a former Bolivian military officer who served as the de facto 59th president of Bolivia in 1982. He was Bolivia's final de facto president. Biography Born in ...

, who was charged with returning the country to democratic rule. Torrelio then retired and did not return to play any role in Bolivian politics. Torrelio was replaced by the Junta of Commanders of the Armed Forces (1982).

Sources

*Prado Salmón, Gral. Gary. "Poder y Fuerzas Armadas, 1949-1982."

External links

Obituary from ''The Independent''
1933 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian generals Military College of the Army alumni Interior ministers of Bolivia People from Tomina Province Presidents of Bolivia Justice ministers of Bolivia {{Bolivia-politician-stub

See also

Sources

External links