Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (born 2 March 1956) is a

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

n judge who briefly served as the 64th

president of Bolivia The president of Bolivia (), officially known as the president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (), is head of state and head of government of Bolivia and the captain general of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. According to the Bolivian C ...

from 2005 to 2006 on an interim basis following the resignation of President

Carlos Mesa Carlos Diego de Mesa Gisbert (; born 12 August 1953) is a Bolivian historian, journalist, and politician who served as the 63rd president of Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. As an independent politician, he had previously served as the 37th vice pr ...

during the 2005 political crisis. Prior to his temporary role as president, he was the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of Bolivia.

Background

Born in

Cochabamba Cochabamba (; ) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital (political), capital of the Cochabamba Department and the list of cities in Bolivia, fourth largest city in Bolivia, with ...

in 1956, Rodríguez is a lawyer and holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in public administration. He studied at Colegio San Agustín; later he studied law at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba and obtained his

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

John F. Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

. Rodríguez was the Bolivian ambassador to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

where he also served as ambassador before the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

. On 12 November 2019, he resigned from that post upon the assumption of the government of

Jeanine Áñez Jeanine Áñez Chávez (; born 13 June 1967) is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and television presenter who served as the 66th president of Bolivia from 2019 to 2020. A former member of the Social Democratic Movement, she previously served two ...

Presidency (2005–2006)

In 2005, after weeks of civil unrest led by cocalero activist

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 come ...

, former president

offered his resignation to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Senate President Hormando Vaca Diez and Chamber of Deputies leader Mario Cossío did not take the post, under pressure from opposition protestors. Rodríguez, as non-partisan head of the

judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

and fourth in the line of succession, became the country's new president on June 10, 2005; he was inaugurated with the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

al mandate to call elections within one year's time.

won the December 2005 general election and Rodriguez's term ended upon Morales' inauguration.

Post-presidency (2006–present)

Treason charges

Under the Morales administration, Rodriguez has been charged with treason following the decommissioning of missiles during his term in office. Bolivia bought about 30

HN-5 The HN-5 (; NATO reporting name: CH-SA-3) is a family of first generation Chinese man-portable air-defense systems ( MANPAD) based on Soviet technology. The HN abbreviation is used to avoid confusion with the HY (Hai Ying, or Sea Eagle) series ...

shoulder-launched missiles from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1993 or 1998. By 2005 they had become obsolete and Rodriguez made the decision to destroy them; he says he did not know the United States would be the ones to be given the missiles for destruction. Before taking office, Morales charged that the transfer amounted to putting the country "under foreign domination." He was charged with treason in 2006, which carries a 30-year prison term. Bolivian Ex-President Faces Treason Charges
/ref> He has since been cleared of all charges.

References

External links

Official web site of the president of Bolivia

Biography by CIDOB

New Bolivia leader promises poll
(

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 10 June 2005)
Bolivia's peacemaker seeks brighter future