Unidad Democrática y Popular
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The Democratic and Popular Union (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
: ''Unidad Democrática y Popular'') (1977–84) 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 ...
n umbrella
political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...
uniting various smaller
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
parties. It was formed in 1977 by 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 195 ...
and consisted chiefly of Siles' Movimiento Nationalista Revolutionario de Izquierda ( Leftwing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement), a spin-off of the Moviminento Nacionalista Revolucionario (
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 ...
), and
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 o ...
's Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria ( Revolutionary Left Movement). The coalition became extremely popular with Bolivian voters in the late 1970s, due to fatigue with the military dictatorships that for the most controlled the country since 1964. The UDP presented itself for elections in 1978, with Siles Zuazo at the head of the ticket. By all accounts, it won a plurality. The vote was annulled, however, due to the discovery of massive fraud on behalf of the government endorsed candidate, General
Juan Pereda Juan Pereda Asbún (17 June 1931 – 25 November 2012) was a Bolivians, 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 ...
. New elections were conducted in 1979. They, too, proved inconclusive, as the UDP's
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 ...
, with Paz Zamora as his vice-presidential running mate, finished first at the ballot box, but without attaining the 50% majority necessary for direct election. Thus, it was left to Congress to determine the next Chief Executive, as stipulated in the Bolivian Constitution. Congress could not agree on any candidate, no matter how many votes were taken. Eventually, Congress proclaimed as temporary President the head of the Senate, 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 ...
, pending the calling of yet a new round of elections in 1980. During the 1980 elections, the ultra-right wing of the Bolivian military began to intimate that it would never stand for the installation 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 ...
of the "extremist" Siles and Paz Zamora. In April, the small rented plane in which Paz Zamora and a delegation of UDP politicians were traveling crashed in the Altiplano near
La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
, with the resulting death of all on board except the Vice-Presidential candidate. No one doubts that it was an assassination attempt. In any case, Paz recovered from his wounds and resumed campaigning, buoyed by the increasing support received by the UDP in the aftermath of the "accident." The winner of this third vote in three years was, yet again, the Siles Zuazo-Paz Zamora formula. The two would have been sworn in, weren't for the July 17, 1980, coup of 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. ...
, which brutally interrupted the democratic process. Siles Zuazo and Paz Zamora fled to exile, but returned in 1982, when the military's experiment had run its course and the Bolivian economy was on the verge of collapse. In October 1982 the results of the 1980 elections were upheld and Siles Zuazo was sworn in, with Paz Zamora as his Vice-President. The economic situation was dire indeed, and soon a galloping hyper-inflationary process developed. Siles, and the UDP government in general, had great difficulty in controlling the situation. In all fairness, the ruling coalition received scant support from the other political parties or members of congress, most of whom were eager to flex their newly acquired political muscles after so many years of authoritarianism. The unions, led by the old firebrand
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 ...
paralyzed the government with constant strikes. At this point, the MIR (led by Paz Zamora) disassociated itself from the regime (1984), deserting the UDP's sinking ship when Siles' popularity sank to an all-time low. For all purposes, the UDP ceased to exist at that point. By 1985, the government's impotence prompted Congress to call early elections, citing the fact that Siles had been originally elected five long before. With the UDP having splintered completely, Siles retired but his MNR-I party ran in the 1985 elections under the leadership of Roberto Jordán Pando. It did very poorly at the polls. As for the MIR (the UDP's other main component group), it ran in the 1985 elections under its own name and finished third. Its leader, Paz Zamora, went on to be elected president in 1989. The UDP was never resuscitated again, but remains a powerful symbol of the early phase of democratic consolidation (1977–84), when it was Bolivia's most popular party.


References

{{Authority control 1977 establishments in Bolivia 1984 disestablishments in Bolivia Defunct political party alliances in Bolivia Left-wing parties in Bolivia Political parties disestablished in 1984 Political parties established in 1977