Juan Pereda
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Juan Pereda Asbún (17 June 1931 – 25 November 2012) was a Bolivian military general who served as the ''de facto'' 52nd president of Bolivia in 1978. Although he ruled for only four months, his ascent to the presidency marked the beginning of the most unstable period in Bolivian history, with nine presidents in a little over 4 years (1978–1982), in comparison to only one in the previous seven. Born in La Paz on 17 June 1931, his father was from a family of merchants and his mother from a wealthy family of Palestinian Christians. Pereda joined the Bolivian
armed forces 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 ...
, later becoming part of its nascent Air Force. He led the Military Aviation School and was subsequently appointed Air Force Commander. He served in the dictatorship of Hugo Banzer (1971–1978) as Minister of Industry and, in the late 1970s, as Minister of Interior, perhaps the most powerful post in the regime after Banzer himself. When in 1978 the then-dictator decided to call
elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
after seven years in power, he chose Pereda to run as his surrogate. At the time, Bolivian presidents were barred from immediate re-election. It was assumed that Pereda would be elected with the "help" of a rigged election, rule for four years, and then allow Banzer to return as constitutional president once he had time to polish up his image and transition to civilian politics. Apparently, Banzer had second thoughts, for by election time the left-wing UDP coalition of former president Hernán Siles was out to a massive lead in the polls, and no amount of rigging could have denied it. Pereda ran as the candidate of the Nationalist Union of the People, a right-wing alliance. Official results showed Pereda winning with just over 50 percent of the vote, a few thousand votes over the threshold for an outright victory. However, protests paralyzed the country and independent organizations agreed that all exit polls indicated Siles had won handily—a result quite different from what was being purported. Additionally, the official results showed that some 200,000 more votes were cast than registered voters. At this point, Banzer annulled the elections, denounced the electoral fraud, and disassociated himself from it altogether, basically blaming Pereda and his closest supporters. He declared he would call elections again within a year or two. Banzer reckoned without Pereda, however, who felt used by Banzer as a tool to remain in power. He launched a coup d'état, with the support of many military officers who felt Banzer manipulated the armed forces for his own political ends. After Banzer was forced to leave 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 ...
in July 1978, Pereda was sworn in as president, although not a constitutional one, since the fraud had been so conspicuous that it was plain to see. He did blame Banzer, however, and stated non-commitally that he would call new elections within a reasonable span of time. His lack of clarity in this regard, and his obvious paucity of a coherent government program, proved to be his undoing. After four months in office, General Pereda was overthrown by democratically oriented officers under the leadership of General
David Padilla David Padilla Arancibia (13 August 1927 – 25 September 2016) was a Bolivian general who served as the 53rd president of Bolivia from 1978 to 1979. A native of Sucre, Padilla was born on 13 August 1927. Joining the armed forces, he rose t ...
. Feeling betrayed by everyone (from Banzer to his co-conspirators in the July 1978 coup d'état), at that point Pereda withdrew from public life and never again participated in politics.


See also

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Cabinet of Juan Pereda General Juan Pereda, Juan Pereda Asbún assumed the president of Bolivia, presidency of Bolivia on 21 July 1978, and on 24 July 1978 formed his cabinet. He was removed from office on 3 November later that year. MNR – Revolutionary Nationalist M ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereda Asbun, Juan 1931 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian aviators Bolivian generals Bolivian people of Palestinian descent Candidates in the 1978 Bolivian presidential election Government ministers of Bolivia Leaders ousted by a coup Leaders who took power by coup Interior ministers of Bolivia Justice ministers of Bolivia People from La Paz Presidents of Bolivia