José Manuel Inocencio Pando Solares (27 December 1849 – 17 June 1917) was a Bolivian explorer, military officer, and politician who served as the 25th

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 1899 to 1904. He was a member of the Liberal Party. He fought the so-called Acre War with Brazil, which led to Bolivia's loss of the Acre territories.

Early life

Youth and studies

Pando was born in the town of Luribay on 27 December 1848. His parents were Manuel Pando and Petrona Solares. He studied at the ''Colegio Seminario de La Paz'' and continued his studies at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) where he studied medicine, but only reached the sixth year before he abandoned it for a career in politics. At the age of twenty-three, Pando fought alongside the people of La Paz to overthrow the government of Mariano Melgarejo on 15 January 1871, after which he was incorporated into the

Bolivian Army The Bolivian Army () is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. Figures on the size and composition of the Bolivian army vary considerably, with little official data available. It is estimated that the army has between 26,000 and 6 ...

Military career

After overthrowing Melgarejo, Bolivian President Agustín Morales appointed Pando as his personal aide-de-camp in 1871. Pando and Morales had an excellent relationship which allowed for the former's career in the army to be propelled to new heights. However, on 27 November 1872, when Morales was assassinated by his nephew and also aide-de-camp, Federico Lafaye, a heartbroken Pando resigned from the position of assistant to the President of Bolivia. In 1876, after Hilarión Daza's deposition of President Tomas Frías, Pando retired to private life in his Luribay hacienda. However, the outbreak of the

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 ...

called him back to arms. During the War of the Pacific, Pando contributed to the Bolivian Army when, in the midst of the war, he took steps to bring artillery pieces 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 ...

, a task that General Daza had entrusted to him. Pando fought in the Battle of Alto de la Alianza on 26 May 1880, where he was seriously wounded in the left arm and taken prisoner by the Chileans. He would be taken prisoner to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

in Chile. Upon his return to Bolivia, Pando led an artillery regiment until 1884.

Explorer and adventurer

Pando was one of the great explorers of Bolivia during the 19th century. Pando's explorations provided a large deal of knowledge and helped in the integration of Northern Bolivia, then known as the National Territory of Colonies (then a largely unknown and obscure part of the country). Today, this territory is composed of the departments of

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 ...

, Beni and Pando, the latter bears his last name in honor of his expeditions there. Several of his expeditions to the region took place around the Madidi, Madre de Dios, and Mamoré rivers, collective studies were made on the subject and published by the University of La Plata, in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Furthermore, Pando's exploration greatly contributed to Bolivia's cartography, providing crucial knowledge about uncharted lands in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

Political career

The Liberal Party

He entered as a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in 1884, a party of which he started leading after replacing General Eliodoro Camacho in 1894. He was head of the Liberal Party of Bolivia until the end of his presidency. Over the years, Pando became one of the greatest landowners of Bolivia, benefiting from the laws of 1874 and 1880. As head of the Liberal Party, Pando was a candidate for the presidency of the republic in the 1896 general elections, being defeated by the Conservative Party and its leader,

Severo Fernández Severo Fernández Alonso Caballero (15 August 1849 – 12 August 1925) was a Bolivian lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the 24th president of Bolivia from 1896 to 1899. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the 10th vic ...

. That same year, he assumed the position of

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for the Department of Chuquisaca.

Uprising against the Conservatives

Pando would be the leader of the Federalists when they rose up against the government in 1898, obtaining the support of the Aymaras of the country and of Colonel Pablo Zárate Willca, known as the "Fearsome Willka". Turning several officers to his cause, including Octavio La Faye and Carlos Manuel de Villegas, Pando had large following in the army. Thus, the Bolivian Civil War began. After four months of fighting, he triumphed over the conservative forces of President Fernández in the Battle of the Segundo Crucero. A Federal Government Board was created, made up of Pando,

Serapio Reyes Ortiz Serapio Reyes Ortiz (14 November 1822 – 6 November 1900) was a Bolivians, Bolivian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as Acting president, acting President of Bolivia in 1879, after the death of Pedro José de Guerra and the continued ...

and Macario Pinilla Vargas, which installed the seat of government in

. The Board carried out some institutional reforms and public works, such as the construction of the government palace of La Paz. The Board was dissolved at the National Convention of 1899, when Pando was elected president.

President of Bolivia

Administration

Pando was fifty years old when he assumed the Presidency. During his administration, the first Bolivian census of the 20th century was carried out in 1900. Moreover, it was discovered that there was a surplus in the trade balance, due to the rubber boom, ensuring stability of the economy for the following decades. Pando ordered the construction of roads going from the valleys to the plains, linking the distant settlements to the major urban centers of Bolivia in an attempt to connect the country and to improve infrastructure. Another crucial event during Pando's presidency was the arrival of the first car imported in Bolivia, brought to the country by adventurer

Arthur Posnansky Arthur Posnansky (1873–1946), often called "Arturo", was an Austrian engineer, explorer, ship’s navigator, entrepreneur, La Paz city council member, and amateur archaeologist. During his lifetime, Posnansky was known as a prolific writer a ...

.Parker, W.B. (1922) ''Bolivians of To-Day'', 2nd ed. The Hispanic Society of America. New York, New York. 332 pp. Internationally, Pando fought the so-called Acre War with Brazil. The region of

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

, located in the north and adjacent to the border with Brazil, had been invaded by Brazilian settlers and rubber tappers in the midst of a rubber boom. The Bolivian government, attempting to assert its influence in that region, founded Puerto Alonso in 1899 and established taxes on rubber tappers. But the rubber tappers rebelled and started a secessionist movement called the First Revolution of Acre, which the Bolivian government was able to crush. The second phase of this war, called the Second Acrean Revolution, occurred in 1902; this time, the Acreans asked to be annexed into

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The Bolivians suffered setbacks at the hands of the Acrean revolutionaries, so Pando personally marched to Acre at the head of an army. This motivated the intervention of Brazil, which considered the area in dispute to be theirs and decided to send its army in support of the Acreans. This disparate situation forced the Bolivians to enter negotiations. Pando signed the Treaty of Petrópolis with Brazil by which Bolivia ceded territory in the north in exchange for significant financial compensation of two million pounds sterling. Shortly after returning to La Paz, at the end of his term, Pando handed over power to

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 ...

, who succeeded him as leader of the Liberal Party.

Later life and death

Pando was delegate in the territories of the North and Commissioner of Limits with Brazil. He was appointed Brigadier General in the Army of

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 1911. Having left the Liberal party, he broke with Ismael Montes and, in 1915, he became the founder of the Republican Party. Retired, Pando was found dead in a ravine near El Kenko (now

El Alto El Alto (Spanish for "The Heights") is the List of Bolivian cities by population, second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest- ...

) on 17 June 1917. Many believed it was a political crime, perpetrated at the instigation of the Liberal Party. The murder was attributed to Alfredo Jáuregui, Juan Jáuregui, Néstor Villegas and Simón Choque. In 1927, Alfredo Jáuregui, the youngest of the brothers, was shot as a result of his alleged involvement in the crime against Pando. Modern investigations, however, maintain that Pando's death was due to natural causes, when he suffered a stroke while he was going from his farm in Catavi to the city of La Paz. According to this hypothesis, the members of the Jáuregui family, in whose hut Pando had stayed shortly before, upon discovering the body on the road, fearing being blamed for his death, threw the body into the ravine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pando, Jose Manuel 1849 births 1917 deaths 19th-century Bolivian politicians 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian generals Bolivian military personnel of the War of the Pacific Bolivian people of Spanish descent Leaders who took power by coup Liberal Party (Bolivia) politicians People from José Ramón Loayza Province Presidents of Bolivia Republican Party (Bolivia) politicians People murdered in 1917 Acre War