The Revolutionary Left Movement – New Majority ( es, Movimiento de la Izquierda Revolucionaria – Nueva Mayoría; MIR–NM) was a

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

political party in Bolivia whose registration was annulled in 2006 after it failed achieve the electoral results needed to maintain its official registration. In the elections of 2009, the party did not field any candidates. It was a member of the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisation ...

.Howard J. Wiarda, Harvey F. Kline, ''Latin American politics and development'', Westview Press, 1990

History

The MIR was founded in 1971 by a merger of a left-wing faction of Bolivia's

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and the radical student wing of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR). It has been led from the beginning by

Jaime Paz Zamora Jaime Paz Zamora (born 15 April 1939) is a former Bolivian politician who served as the 60th president of Bolivia from 1989 to 1993. He also served as the 32nd vice president of Bolivia from October 1982 to December 1984 during the presidency ...

. The MIR was becoming influential in the

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 ...

and politics during the early 1970s, but it was repressed by the government of

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 ...

later in the 1970s. In 1978, the MIR joined the left-of-center UDP alliance of 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 1952 ...

. After a few years of unstable military rule, Siles Zuazo was proclaimed Constitutional President in 1982, based on the results of the 1980 elections, which had been annulled by general

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 ...

. The MIR's

accompanied Dr. Siles as his Vice-President. During the dire economic crisis that coincided with the coming to power of the UDP, Siles became considerably unpopular. At this point (1984), the MIR—led by Vice-President Paz Zamora—left the governing alliance and moved into the opposition. Prior to the 1985 elections, a faction of the party led by Antonio Araníbar left the party on ideological grounds and formed the rival

Free Bolivia Movement The Free Bolivia Movement (Spanish: ''Movimiento Bolivia Libre'') is a progressive political party in Bolivia. The party was formed on January 15, 1985, following a split in MIR. Initially the party was known as ''MIR Bolivia Libre''. At the le ...

. The faction of the MIR that remained loyal to Paz Zamora referred to itself as the MIR-New Majority, and espoused a much more moderate program than before, having disassociated itself from Marxist dogmas and any notion of class struggle.

Presidency

The MIR was revitalized when it became one of the most vocal critics of the

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

and

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent f ...

measures of the president that followed Siles,

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 pr ...

of the MNR. After the 1989 elections, the MIR at long last attained the presidency of Bolivia, despite having finished third in the popular vote. Since no party had obtained the 50% majority needed for direct election, Congress was called upon to decide who should be Chief Executive; Paz Zamora got the nod, thanks to a most unlikely alliance with a former enemy, the right-wing candidate General

. Perhaps limited by this co-governing pact with Banzer (called the Patriotic Accord), President

followed much of the course set by the MNR, disappointing many former adherents. Following the coalition, MIR again stood independently in the 1997, where Paz Zamora finished third in the presidential elections, the party gaining 7 senators and 23 deputies.

Decline

Like the other traditionally dominant parties in Bolivia (such as the MNR and Banzer's

Nationalist Democratic Action Nationalist Democratic Action ( es, Acción Democrática Nacionalista) is a right-wing political party in Bolivia led by Óscar Daza Márquez. ADN was founded on March 23, 1979 by the military dictator Hugo Banzer after he stepped down from pow ...

, or ADN), the MIR suffered a collapse in the early years of the 21st century. One of its most important leaders, Oscar Eid, even went to jail for links to narcotics trafficking, further tarnishing the party. Their support again decreased in 2002, with the rise 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 c ...

' Movement for Socialism, and Paz Zamora finished fourth. The party maintained a reduced local presence in the 2004 elections, winning 132 council seats across 89 communes. Indeed, by this time, the MIR had lost so much support that it chose not to run candidates for the 2005 presidential elections. Instead, it chose to focus its efforts in local and provincial contests, with its leader, Paz Zamora, failing to win the Prefecture of Tarija as part of a joint candidature entitled Regional Convergence. In 2006, the party's official registration was cancelled, due to its failure to achieve sufficient results in previous elections, and in 2009 the party did not stand any candidates.

References

{{Authority control 1971 establishments in Bolivia Democratic socialist parties in South America Former member parties of the Socialist International Political parties established in 1971 Political parties in Bolivia Social democratic parties in South America Socialist parties in Bolivia Revolutionary Nationalist Movement breakaway groups