General Guido Hernán Vildoso Calderón (born 5 April 1937,

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 ...

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 ...

) is a former

Bolivian Bolivian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Bolivia ** Bolivian people ** Demographics of Bolivia ** Culture of Bolivia * SS ''Bolivian'', a British-built standard cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries ...

military officer who served as the de facto 59th

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 ...

in 1982. He was Bolivia's final de facto president.

Biography

Born in

on 5 April 1937, Vildoso joined the Bolivian armed forces and took specialized courses 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 ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, and the

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. In the 1970s he served in the cabinet of military dictator

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 ...

. Vildoso was second in command in the Bolivian Army when, in July 1982, he was entrusted by his peers with the task of extricating the military from power and returning the country to constitutional, democratic rule after a period of several dictatorships. His appointment followed the highly unpopular 1980-82 dictatorships of

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. ...

and

Celso Torrelio 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 from 1981 to 1982. A native of Padilla, dep ...

Presidency (1982)

Vildoso became president of Bolivia on 21 July 1982. Faced with a grave social, economic and fiscal crisis, Vildoso accelerated the re-democratization process. He and his fellow commanders essentially had two options: call new elections, or to reconvene the 1980 Congress and respect the results of that year's presidential contest. When it became apparent that the country would crumble into civil war before new elections could be held, Vildoso's junta recalled the 1980 Congress and promised to accept its choice of president. Congress reconvened on 23 September, and its virtual first act was to reconfirm the 1980 election results, which showed former president

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 ...

well ahead, though short of a majority. On 5 October, Congress overwhelmingly elected Siles as president. Vildoso returned the presidential emblems to Congress on October 10, 1982, thus closing the door on military control of Bolivia. This gesture allowed Siles to formally take office later that day. Nonetheless, Vildoso and his cabinet were loudly booed by the population present at the transfer of power to Siles. The Bolivian Congress did later acknowledge Vildoso for his two main accomplishments: restoring democracy to Bolivia with no bloodshed and developing the fundamentals of the economic plan, 21060, that was later used by President

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 ...

to restore sound macroeconomic variables to the nation.

Post-presidency (1982–present)

After the handover of authority, Vildoso retired from the military and currently lives in

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 63 ...

. He is reportedly highly regarded by Bolivian citizens. To date, he is the last non-constitutional ruler of the country.

References

*Prado Salmón, Gral. Gary. "Poder y Fuerzas Armadas, 1949-1982." 1937 births Living people 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian generals Government ministers of Bolivia Health ministers of Bolivia Military College of the Army alumni People from La Paz Presidents of Bolivia {{Bolivia-politician-stub

Biography

Presidency (1982)

Post-presidency (1982–present)

See also

References