Guillermo Lora (31 October 1922 – 17 May 2009) was a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

leader 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 , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

who was active in the Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) from the early 1940s and was its best known leader. Lora became active in the POR when it was in the process of building links with the Bolivian

labor movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

, most notably the Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB). Following the POR's participation in the 1952 "Bolivian National Revolution", its power was quickly circumscribed by the ruling

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 ...

(MNR). In the 1960s, when a faction of the POR sought to follow the example of

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and engage in

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

, Lora led a second group, generally referred to as 'POR(Masas)', that maintained its focus on the labor movement. Though Lora sympathized with the

International Committee of the Fourth International The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site, and another linked to the Workers Revo ...

, his faction of the POR did not affiliate with any international

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

grouping during the time. In 1988, POR(Masas) founded the Liaison Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International (CERCI). During the years of

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

in Bolivia in the 1970s, Lora and his faction of the POR were an important ally of Juan Lechín Oquendo (the president of the miners' union). Though it is far smaller than at its height in 1952, Lora's POR still remains as one of the largest Trotskyist groups in Bolivia.

External links

Writings by Lora
(Marxist Internet Archive)
Death Notice

1922 births 2009 deaths Revolutionary Workers' Party (Bolivia) politicians Bolivian people of Spanish descent Candidates for President of Bolivia {{Bolivia-politician-stub