José Manuel Gutiérrez Guerra, known as "the last Oligarch," (5 September 1869 in

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

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 ...

– 3 February 1929 in

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

) was a

Bolivian Bolivian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Bolivia ** Bolivian people ** Demographics of Bolivia ** Culture of Bolivia * SS Bolivian, SS ''Bolivian'', later SS ''Alfios'', a British-built standard cargo ship {{disambiguation ...

economist and statesman who served as the 28th

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 1917 to 1920. He was the grandson of

Pedro José Domingo de Guerra Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

, acting president in 1879 and 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 ...

, who had died in office after he was forced to assume presidential responsibilities during the disastrous

War of the Pacific The War of the Pacific (), also known by War of the Pacific#Etymology, multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Treaty of Defensive Alliance (Bolivia–Peru), Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought over Atacama Desert ...

Early life and family

The scion of two illustrious aristocratic families from Chuquisaca, which traced descent from Incan royalty and the first Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

s who came into Peru, judges of the Audiencia of Charcas. On his mother's side, he was also related to Irish physician

Francis Rynd Francis Rynd (1801 – 19 July 1861) was an Irish physician known for inventing the hypodermic needle used in syringes. Early life Rynd was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1801 to James Rynd and his third wife Hester Fleetwood. Rynd attended medica ...

and British statesman

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

. He was sent to England at an early age to receive education. There, he studied under the

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Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

, then St Bede's College, and

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, from where he graduated in 1890, aged 21. He returned to Bolivia, where he worked in banking. An economist by training, he was hesitant to enter politics. As one contemporary put it, "He never sought political preferment." In 1914, he was elected to Congress as deputy from

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 ...

. His rise was meteoric, however, as he was tipped to succeed

Ismael Montes Ismael Montes Gamboa (5 October 1861 – 16 October 1933) was a Bolivian general and political figure who served as the 26th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1904 to 1909 and from 1913 to 1917. He was a member of the Liberal ...

as Liberal party candidate in the 1917 presidential elections.

Presidency

Having won at the polls, he took office but faced severe problems stemming from worsening economic conditions and mounting opposition from the recently formed Republican party. The 1917 assassination (never fully explained) of the founder of that party and former president, José Manuel Pando, further undermined Gutiérrez's popularity. He failed to act decisively from the point of view of his opponents, despite his call on Congress to launch an official investigation into the alleged excesses and misdeeds of his predecessor and political chief,

. Twenty-plus years of unbroken Liberal control of the government (the longest by one party in the history of Bolivia) had fatigued most Bolivians and turned them against the ruling elites and Gutiérrez became known as 'the last Oligarch.' During his government, several works were undertaken. These included oil exploitation in Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz and

Tarija Tarija or San Bernardo de la Frontera de Tarixa is a city in southern Bolivia. Founded in 1574, Tarija is the largest city and capital and municipality within the Tarija Department, with an airport ( Capitán Oriel Lea Plaza Airport, (TJA)) of ...

—deposits given in concession to the American company Richmond Levering. The Beni drinking water service was inaugurated and the contract for the construction of the sewage systems for the cities of

and

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 ...

was signed. The Escuela Nacional de Bolívar de Oruro and Florida de Santa Cruz de la Sierra were built, as well as the Military Aviation School was founded of Alto de La Paz in 1920 and the Mineralogical Museum of

Oruro Oruro (Hispanicized spelling) or Uru Uru is a city in Bolivia with a population of 264,683 (2012 calculation), about halfway between La Paz and Sucre in the Altiplano, approximately above sea level. It is Bolivia's fifth-largest city by populat ...

was inaugurated. Gutiérrez lost significant support from Bolivia's elite after fining Simón I. Patiño for the smuggling of 10,000 cans of alcohol 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 ...

, which caused economic damage to the state. He was deposed in the 1920

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

which, with military help, brought to power the opposition Republican party under the leadership of

Bautista Saavedra Bautista Saavedra Mallea (30 August 1870 in Sorata – 1 March 1939) was a Bolivians, Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as the 29th president of Bolivia from 1921 to 1925. Prior to that, he was part of a governing junta from 1920 to ...

. Gutierrez-Guerra sought refuge in 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 ...

legation at

and went on to take a banking position at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based Chase National. He lived the rest of his days in exile, dying in

in 1929.

References

Sources

* Parker, William Belmont, ''Bolivians of to-day'', pp. 141–144 Hispanic Society of America (2nd ed., 1922)
full text
* Benavides, Julio M., ''José Gutiérrez Guerra en nuestra historia económica'' (1975) * Urioste, Ovidio ''Mi historia anecdótica de Bolivia'' (1951) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Jose 1869 births 1929 deaths 20th-century Bolivian politicians Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Bolivian economists Bolivian exiles Bolivian expatriates in Chile Bolivian people of Irish descent Bolivian people of Spanish descent Bolivian people of indigenous peoples descent Candidates in the 1917 Bolivian presidential election Leaders ousted by a coup Liberal Party (Bolivia) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Bolivia) Finance ministers of Bolivia People educated at St Bede's College, Manchester People from Sucre Presidents of Bolivia Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Bolivia)