Hugo Ballivián Rojas (7 June 1901 – 15 July 1993) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

officer who served as the ''de facto'' 44th

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 1951 to 1952. A career military officer, he was Commander of the

Bolivian Armed Forces 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, ...

when President

Mamerto Urriolagoitía Mamerto Urriolagoitia Harriague (; 5 December 1895 – 4 June 1974) was a Bolivian lawyer and politician who was the 43rd president of Bolivia, from 1949 to 1951. A member of the Republican Socialist Unity Party, he had previously been the 26t ...

called upon him to take over as extra-Constitutional chief executive in order to prevent the swearing-in of the reform-minded President-elect,

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 ...

. This was a

self-coup A self-coup, also called autocoup (from the es, autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état in which a nation's head, having come to power through legal means, tries to stay in power through illegal means. The leader may dissolve or render powerless ...

that became popularly known as the ''Mamertazo.'' Installing himself in the

Palacio Quemado The Bolivian Palace of Government, better known as Palacio Quemado (, ''Burnt Palace''), was the official residence of the President of Bolivia from 1853 to 2018 and again briefly from 2019 to 2020. It is located in downtown La Paz on Plaza ...

, Ballivián was the oligarchy's last hope to "turn back the hands of the clock," but the situation was apparently beyond repair. Despite declaring a nationwide curfew and exiling and imprisoning a number of opposition leaders, the demonstrations, work stoppages, and uprisings continued. Matters came to a head when Ballivián's Minister of Government, General Antonio Seleme, secretly pledged his support to the plotters, then led by

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 ...

(since Paz Estenssoro was at the time exiled in Argentina). This catalyzed the events of April 9-11, 1952, that have come to be known as the

Bolivian National Revolution The Bolivian Revolution of 1952 (), also known as the Revolution of '52, was a series of political demonstrations led by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (RNM, MNR), which, in alliance with liberals and communists, sought to overthrow the ...

, or the 1952 Revolution. They mark an important watershed in the history of Bolivia, routing the supporters of Ballivián, which included large sectors of the Bolivian armed forces. Defections to the rebel camp tilted the scales, and following various days of violent armed confrontation the President sought asylum in the Chilean Embassy. Thus at long last expired the last government of 1880-1952 period. Vilified by many as the last leader of the Old Regime, and seen in more benign terms by others as a general doing his duty as he was entrusted to at an extremely difficult time in Bolivian history, Hugo Ballivián Rojas died in 1993, long retired from any political activity. He was 92 years old.

Sources

*Mesa José de; Gisbert, Teresa; and Carlos D. Mesa, ''Historia de Bolivia'', 3rd edition., pp. 584–587. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ballivian, Hugo 1901 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian generals Leaders ousted by a coup Leaders who took power by coup Military College of the Army alumni People from La Paz People of the Chaco War Presidents of Bolivia