Julio Garrett Ayllón (May 22, 1925 – March 19, 2018) was a Bolivian politician and lawyer who served as the 33rd

vice president of Bolivia The vice president of Bolivia (), officially known as the vice president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (), is the second highest political position in Bolivia. The vice president replaces the president in his definitive absence or others ...

from 1985 to 1989 during the presidency of

Víctor Paz Estenssoro Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro (2 October 1907 – 7 June 2001) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 45th president of Bolivia for three nonconsecutive and four total terms from 1952 to 1956, 1960 to 1964 and 1985 to 1989. He ran for pr ...

.Vicepresidency of Bolivia

Early life and education

Garrett was born in

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

on May 22, 1925. He studied law at the

University of Saint Francis Xavier The Royal and Pontifical Higher University of San Francisco Xavier of Chuquisaca (USFX; ) is a public university in Sucre, Bolivia. It is one of the oldest universities in the New World. In many historical texts, it is also referred to as the Uni ...

in Sucre and the

Rio Branco Institute The Rio Branco Institute (; Abbreviation: IRBr) is Brazil's diplomatic graduate school, internationally recognized as one of the best diplomatic academies in the world. It is the oldest government school in the country and the third oldest dip ...

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 ...

. He then studied international relations in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

before returning to Bolivia, where he chaired the department of sociology at Oruro Technical University.

Politics

Garrett was first elected to the

Senate of Bolivia The Chamber of Senators () is the upper house of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in the Political Constitution of the State and others determined by Bolivian laws. Th ...

, representing Oruro, in 1966. A proponent of

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

with socialist and communist nations, Garrett was appointed as Bolivia's first Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1969 until 1973. In December 1973, Garrett joined 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) political party. Just one month later, Garrett, along with former President

, another member of the MNR, were forced into exile in January 1974. Garrett remained in exile in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

and

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 ...

for five years, until his return to Bolivia in 1979. Julio Garrett Ayllón was elected to the Senate in 1979 soon after his return from exile. He was soon appointed

Foreign Minister of Bolivia The Foreign Minister of Bolivia (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores''; informally ''Canciller'') is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bolivia), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The current minister is Celinda S ...

, a position he held briefly from 1979 until 1980. He won re-election to the Senate in 1980, but was once again forced into exile from 1980 until 1982 during the

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Luis García Meza Tejada Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

. Garrett returned to Bolivia in 1982 following the end of the García Meza dictatorship and the restoration of democracy. He was elected

President of the Senate of Bolivia The president of the Chamber of Senators of Bolivia () is the presiding officer of the upper chamber of the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. The president is currently elected for a one-year term. Below is a list of office-holders.: Presiden ...

from 1982 until 1985. In 1985, Garrett was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population ch ...

Vice President of Bolivia The vice president of Bolivia (), officially known as the vice president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia (), is the second highest political position in Bolivia. The vice president replaces the president in his definitive absence or others ...

as the running mate of President

. Garrett, who served as vice president from 1985 to 1989, established the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Sucre during his tenure. Garrett was re-elected to the Senate in 1989, but his election was later invalidated by the Court of Elections. He was appointed to the

Andean Parliament The Andean Parliament is the governing and deliberative body of the Andean Community, conformed by representatives of its four member states Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and one associate member, Chile. It is composed of 25 parliamentari ...

, the deliberative body of the

Andean Community The Andean Community (, CAN) is a free trade area with the objective of creating a customs union comprising the South American countries (Andean states) of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The trade bloc was called the Andean Pact until 1 ...

, in 1992. Garrett was elected to the national Senate for a fifth term, representing

Chuquisaca Department Chuquisaca (); ; ; ) is a department of Bolivia located in the center south. It borders on the departments of Cochabamba, Tarija, Potosí, and Santa Cruz. The departmental capital is Sucre, which is also the constitutional capital of Bolivia. ...

, in 1993. He held the Senate seat from 1993 to 1995. He then served as the ambassador of Bolivia to

from 1995 until 1997.

Death

Julio Garrett Ayllón died in Sucre on March 19, 2018, at the age of 92.

References

External links

1925 births 2018 deaths Vice presidents of Bolivia Foreign ministers of Bolivia Presidents of the Senate of Bolivia Members of the Senate of Bolivia Ambassadors of Bolivia to Argentina Ambassadors of Bolivia to the Soviet Union Andean Community people 20th-century Bolivian lawyers Bolivian exiles Bolivian expatriates in Argentina Bolivian expatriates in Brazil Bolivian expatriates in Paraguay People from Sucre People from Oruro, Bolivia 20th-century Bolivian politicians {{Bolivia-politician-stub