Lidia Gueiler Tejada (28 August 1921 – 9 May 2011) was a
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 ...
politician who served as the 56th
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 ...
on an interim basis from 1979 to 1980. She was
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 ...
's first female
Head of State
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...
, and the second female republican Head of State in the
history of the Americas
The prehistory of the Americas (North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean) begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from the peopl ...
(the first was
Isabel Perón in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
between 1974 and 1976).
She was the cousin of American actress
Raquel Welch
Jo Raquel Welch ( Tejada; September 5, 1940) is an American actress.
She first won attention for her role in '' Fantastic Voyage'' (1966), after which she won a contract with 20th Century Fox. They lent her contract to the British studio Hamm ...
.
[
]
Background and earlier career
Gueiler was born 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 630 ...
, to Moisés Gueiler Grunewelt, an immigrant from Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and a 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 ...
mother, Raquel Tejada Albornoz. She received a BA degree from Instituto Americano in Cochabamba. In the 1940s, she joined the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR). When that party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...
came to power as a result of the 1952 National Revolution, Gueiler became a member of the Congress of Bolivia
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly ( es, Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional) is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government.
The assembly is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the Chambe ...
, serving in that capacity from 1956 until 1964. In 1964, she went into exile abroad after the MNR was toppled from power by generals Barrientos and Ovando Ovando is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Alfredo Ovando Candía (1918–1982), Bolivian general, president and dictator
* Clementina Díaz y de Ovando (1916–2012), Mexican writer and researcher
* Diego de Cáceres y Ovando, ...
. She spent the next fifteen years out of the country, and joined Juan Lechín
Juan Lechín Oquendo (18 May 1914 – 27 August 2001) was a labor-union leader and head of the Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB) from 1944 to 1987 and the Bolivian Workers' Union (COB) from 1952 to 1987. He also served as the 29th vi ...
's Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left
The Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left (, PRIN) was a left-wing political party in Bolivia. It was founded in 1963 by the labor leader Juan Lechín Oquendo and by Mario Torres Calleja and Edwin Moller in lesser roles. The PRIN seceded fr ...
(PRIN).
She also became the vice-president of the Revolutionary Left Front.[Crespo Rodas, Alfonso. ]
Lydia: una mujer en la historia
'. La Paz: Plural Ed, 1999. p. 121
Upon returning to Bolivia in 1979, Gueiler again ran for Congress and was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia
The Chamber of Deputies ( es, Cámara de Diputados) is the lower house of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. The composition and powers of this house are established in the Political Constitution of the State. The session room ...
(the lower house of the Bolivian Congress) as part of the MNR alliance of former 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 ...
.
As no presidential candidate in the 1979 elections had received the necessary 50% of the vote, it fell to Congress to decide who should be president. Surprisingly, no agreement could be reached, no matter how many votes were taken. An alternative was offered in the form of the President of the Senate of Bolivia
The Chamber of Senators ( es, Cámara de Senadores) is the upper house of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in the Political Constitution of the State and others determ ...
, Dr. Wálter Guevara
Wálter Guevara Arze (March 11, 1912 in Ayopaya Province, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia – June 20, 1996 in La Paz, Bolivia) was a Bolivian statesman, cabinet minister, writer, and diplomat, who served as the 54th president of Bolivia on ...
, who was named temporary Bolivian President in August 1979 pending the calling of new elections in 1980. Guevara was shortly afterwards overthrown in a military coup
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 ...
led by General Alberto Natusch. The population resisted, however, led by a nationwide labor strike called by the powerful Central Obrera Boliviana ("COB") of Juan Lechín. In the end, Natusch was able to occupy 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 ...
for only sixteen days, after which he was forced to give up power. The only face-saving concession he extracted from Congress was the promise that Guevara not be allowed to resume his duties as president.
Interim President of Bolivia
The above condition was accepted and a new provisional president was found in Lidia Gueiler, then leader of the lower congressional house.
As interim President, Gueiler was entrusted with the task of conducting new elections, which were held on 29 June 1980.
Overthrown in bloody coup
Before the winners could take their parliamentary seats, however, Gueiler herself was overthrown in a bloody right-wing military coup by her cousin, General Luis García Meza Tejada
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...
. Gueiler then left the country, and lived in France until the fall of the dictatorship in 1982.
Later diplomatic and other activities
Later, she served her country mostly in the diplomatic sphere, having been appointed Bolivia's ambassador to first Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, then West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and finally—after joining Jaime Paz's " Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria"—to Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
(1989). She retired from public life in the mid-1990s.
Gueiler was involved in various Bolivian feminist organizations throughout her life. She opposed the United States-backed war on drugs
The war on drugs is a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States.Cockburn and St. Clair, 1 ...
in Latin America, particularly the so-called Plan Colombia
Plan Colombia was a United States foreign aid, military aid, and diplomatic initiative aimed at combating Colombian drug cartels and left-wing insurgent groups in Colombia. The plan was originally conceived in 1999 by the administrations of Col ...
. In addition, she authored two books, publishing ''La mujer y la revolución'' ("The woman and the revolution") in 1960 and her autobiography, ''Mi pasión de lideresa'' ("My passion as a leader"), in 2000. She supported the candidacy of Evo Morales
Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to co ...
in the 2005 election.
In June 2009, Gueiler accepted the role of honorary president of the Human Rights Foundation
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting and protecting human rights globally, with an emphasis on closed societies. HRF organizes the Oslo Freedom Forum. The Human Rights Foundation was founded i ...
in Bolivia.
She is the recipient of several awards, including the Order of the Condor of the Andes Grand Cross and the 1979 United Nations Woman of the Year award.
Death
On 9 May 2011, Gueiler died in La Paz following a long illness. She was 89 years old.Lidia Gueiler Tejada: Politician who became only the West's second female president
/ref>
See also
* Cabinet of Lidia Gueiler
References
External links
Newspaper clippings about Lidia Gueiler
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gueiler Tejada, Lidia
1921 births
2011 deaths
20th-century Bolivian politicians
20th-century Bolivian women politicians
20th-century Bolivian women writers
21st-century Bolivian women writers
Ambassadors of Bolivia to Colombia
Ambassadors of Bolivia to Venezuela
Ambassadors of Bolivia to West Germany
Bolivian exiles
Bolivian feminists
Bolivian people of German descent
Bolivian women diplomats
Bolivian women writers
Female heads of state
Leaders ousted by a coup
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Bolivia)
Members of the Senate of Bolivia
People from Cochabamba
Presidents of Bolivia
Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Bolivia)
Revolutionary Left Front (Bolivia) politicians
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement politicians
Bolivian woman ambassadors
Women legislative speakers