The 1971 Bolivian coup d'état was led by military officer

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 as a military dictator; and then again ...

on August 18, 1971, against the government of dictator

Juan José Torres Juan José Torres González (5 March 1920 – 2 June 1976) was a Bolivian socialism, socialist politician and military leader who served as the 50th president of Bolivia from 1970 to 1971, when he was ousted in a coup that resulted in the ...

Political background

Following the uprising of October 7, 1970, General Juan José Torres came to power. Torres would form a left-wing nationalist government, with an "anti-imperialist" stance. Torres would try to form a co-government with the Popular Assembly, a workers' organization, the same sector that helped him come to power. On January 10, 1971, there was an attempted coup against the Torres regime, led by Colonel Hugo Banzer, who was later exiled to

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The coup

According to the Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB), on August 18, 1971, Hugo Banzer entered Bolivia clandestinely, being arrested in Santa Cruz and later flown to the Carabineros barracks in

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

. The next day, August 19, a rebellion broke out in Santa Cruz led by the

Nationalist Popular Front The Nationalist Popular Front () was a government coalition in Bolivia which came to power after the 1971 Bolivian coup d'état, August 1971 coup, active during the military regime of Colonel Hugo Banzer until 1974 - when it was dissolved by militar ...

, a movement made up of the military and the

Revolutionary Nationalist Movement The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement ( , MNR) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Bolivia. It was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenced much of the country's history since 19 ...

(MNR) and

Bolivian Socialist Falange The Bolivian Socialist Falange () is a Bolivian political party established in 1937. It is a far-rightJohn, S (2006) ''Permanent Revolution on the Altiplano: Bolivian Trotskyism, 1928-2005'', p. 445 party drawing inspiration from fascism. It was t ...

(FSB) parties. On August 20, Colonel Andrés Selich ordered the shooting of university students in Santa Cruz. The insurgents supposedly freed Banzer from prison and took over radio stations. In the early hours of August 21, 1971, Juan José Torres and the Bolivian Colorados Regiment called for resistance to the coup. Many took to the streets with this objective, including the socialist leader Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz along with other people and students, however, the lack of weapons and disorganization of these played against them. It is estimated that there were around 100 dead and 50 wounded. Many of Torres' military changed sides, with Rubén Sánchez Valdivia being the only loyal military man at the end. With this scenario, Torres was forced to flee and the rebels took the presidential palace. A triumvirate made up of Jaime Florentino Mendieta, Andrés Selich Chop, and Hugo Banzer Suárez himself took power. Later, the junta passed the presidency with full powers to Banzer.

Foreign involvement

Before the coup, Torres's government had been subjected to external pressure from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. U.S. ambassador Ernest V. Siracusa (who participated in the coup d'état against

Jacobo Arbenz Jacobo is both a surname and a given name of Spanish origin. Based on the name Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis a ...

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

in 1954, then was expelled from

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in 1968, accused of being a

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

man) ordered him to change his policy, threatening him with financial blockage. The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...

refused to grant Bolivia the loans necessary to pursue industrial development work. On June 11, 1971, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

and National Security Advisor

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

discussed plans for a coup in Bolivia. Later in July, the 40 Committee approved covert funding towards Torres's opposition. A week after the coup, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' published a report which claimed that U.S. Air Force Major Robert J. Lundin had advised the plotters and lent them a long-range radio. The report was never substantiated, however, and the State Department denied it immediately, asserting that the United States had no involvement in the overthrow of Torres. The

Brazilian military government The military dictatorship in Brazil (), occasionally referred to as the Fifth Brazilian Republic, was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against presid ...

openly supported the Bolivian coup.

Brazilian Air Force The Brazilian Air Force (, FAB) is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Brazilian Brazilian Army Aviation (1919–1941), Army and Brazilian Naval Aviation, Nav ...

planes dropped weapons, including ammunition, rifles, and machine guns, to the rebels in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Additionally, troops from the II Army, commanded by General , were deployed to

Mato Grosso Mato Grosso ( – ) is one of the states of Brazil, the List of Brazilian states by area, third largest by area, located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible ...

, ready to intervene if necessary. According to former U.S. ambassador to Argentina

John Davis Lodge John Davis Lodge (October 20, 1903 – October 29, 1985) was an American film actor, lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was the 79th governor of Connecticut from 1951 to 1955, and later served as U.S. ambassador to Spain, Argentina, and Swit ...

, the government of dictator Alejandro Agustín Lanusse was also involved in the coup.

Consequences

After this, Hugo Banzer started a new military dictatorship in Bolivia for seven years that banned unions and civil rights, being a participant in the so-called

Operation Condor Operation Condor (; ) was a campaign of political repression by the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America, involving intelligence operations, coups, and assassinations of left-wing sympathizers in South America which fo ...

, which killed or caused the disappearance of hundreds of people in Bolivia. Juan José Torres, on the other hand, went into exile in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, where he was kidnapped and killed in 1976 as part of Operation Condor. Hugo Banzer was overthrown by a new military uprising in 1978.

References

Footnotes

Works cited

* * {{United States intervention in Latin America 1971 in Bolivia 1970s coups d'état and coup attempts August 1971 in South America Bolivia–United States relations Cold War in Latin America Conflicts in 1971 Henry Kissinger Military coups in Bolivia Cold War conflicts United States involvement in regime change