Mamerto Urriolagoitía Harriague (; 5 December 1895 – 4 June 1974) was a Bolivian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and politician who was the 43rd

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 1949 to 1951. A member of the

Republican Socialist Unity Party The Republican Socialist Unity Party (Spanish: ''Partido de la Unión Republicana Socialista'', PURS) was a political party founded on 10 November 1946 in Bolivia as the fusion of the Republican Socialist Party, the Genuine Republican Party, the U ...

, he had previously been the 26th

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 1947 to 1949, under President

Enrique Hertzog José Enrique Hertzog Garaizábal (10 November 1897 – 31 July 1981) was a Bolivian physician and politician who served as the 42nd president of Bolivia from 1947 to 1949. Biography Hertzog was born on 10 November 1897. A medical doctor by ...

. Urriolagoitía's short reign was characterized by the violent suppression of the opposition, especially unionists, and he is remembered for his inflexibility. He is considered the last constitutional president of the largely oligarchic social and political order that reigned in the country until the advent of the 1952

Bolivian National Revolution The Bolivian Revolution of 1952 (), also known as the Revolution of '52, was a series of political demonstrations led by the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), which, in alliance with liberals and communists, sought to overthrow the rulin ...

Early life and education

Urriolagoitía was born on 5 December 1895 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 ...

to Mamerto Urriolagoitía and Corina Harriague Moreno. He studied law at

University of San Francisco 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 List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the New World. In many ...

and international law at

University of Sorbonne The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

in Paris.

Career

In 1917, he started working at the Bolivian Embassy in London as First Secretary and ''

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

''. He also represented Bolivia at the

Postal Union Congress The Postal Union Congress is the main international meeting of the Universal Postal Union, used to discuss various issues affecting international postal services, such as legislation, the political climate, and other strategic issues. The first con ...

and the Monetary Congress. He left London in 1937 and returned to Bolivia. There, he led the

and was the senator representing the

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 1947, Urriolagoitía was elected

vice-president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

to Dr.

. The Bolivian Civil War of 1949 broke out following a massacre at

Siglo XX mine Siglo XX (Spanish for "Twentieth Century") is a tin mine in Bolivia. It is located in the city of Llallagua in the province of Bustillos, Potosí Department. Along with the Catavi mine, it is part of a mining complex in the area. It was acqu ...

on 29 May after miners kidnapped and killed several government authorities. This led to a series of violent nationwide rebellions that continued through September. The government barely maintained hold of the country. Around this time, Hertzog was forced to step back after suffering health problems from the pressures of the presidency. Urriolagoitía assumed the role of president on 24 October 1949. The existing Cabinet resigned and Urriolagoitía re-filled it to best suit his needs. Much of Urriolagoitía's presidency was dedicated to repressing the reformist movement headed by the

Nationalist Revolutionary 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 194 ...

(MNR) 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 ...

Juan Lechín Juan Lechín Oquendo (18 May 1914 – 27 August 2001) was a trade union, labor-union leader and head of the Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia, Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB) from 1944 to 1987 and the Central Ob ...

Hernán Siles Zuazo Hernán Siles Zuazo (21 March 1914 – 6 August 1996) was a Bolivian politician who served as the 46th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1956 to 1960 and from 1982 to 1985. He also briefly served as interim president in April 1952 ...

, and others. He crushed a number of

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 ...

attempts In 1950, he issued decrees, first to make opposition parties illegal, then to outlaw unions. He instituted curfews, shut down newspapers including ''El proletario'', and branded the MNR as communists in discussions with American President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

in hopes of gaining his support. Opponents were thrown in prison or killed; opposition leaders including

, Guillermo Lora, José Fellman, and

Óscar Únzaga Óscar Únzaga de la Vega (19 April 1916 – 19 April 1959) was a Bolivian political figure and rebel. Most significantly, he founded the Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB) movement in 1937, and ran for President in the 1956 elections The foll ...

fled the country and remained in exile. The cost of living, which had been mounting for years, continued to rise, worsened by Urriolagoitía's decision to freeze the salaries of laborers. He also raised fiscal reserves for oil, making it impossible for these resources to be nationalized and used to support Bolivians. Meanwhile, he worked to support

Gabriel González Videla Gabriel Enrique González Videla (; 22 November 1898 – 22 August 1980) was a Chilean politician and lawyer who served as the 24th president of Chile from 1946 to 1952. He had previously been a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1930 ...

's election as

president of Chile The president of Chile (), officially the president of the Republic of Chile (), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is responsible for both Government of Chile, government administration and s ...

. In 1950, the two discussed establishing a corridor that allowed Bolivia access to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. The Bolivian port would be established in

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

. In Bolivia, he ensured completion of the 1950 Census, the first census to be held in Bolivia since the turn of the 20th century. By the 1951 presidential elections, however, the opposition party, led by

, had gained significant popularity. Paz was declared the winner with 85,000 votes to Urriolagoitía's party's 35,000. This was despite the fact that, under the law, only about 200,000 privileged, educated, and propertied Bolivians could vote. Urriolagoitía refused to give power to Paz and instead installed the head of the Bolivian military, General

Hugo Ballivián Hugo Ballivián Rojas (7 June 1901 – 15 July 1993) was a Bolivian politician and military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries ar ...

, as president to prevent the MNR from taking power. This coup against the democratic order would come to be known as the ''Mamertazo'' of 1951. With the elections annulled and Ballivián firmly installed in the

Palacio Quemado The Bolivian Palace of Government, better known as (, ''Burnt Palace''), was the official residence of the President of Bolivia from 1853 to 2018 and again briefly from 2019 to 2020. It is located in downtown La Paz on Plaza Murillo, next to ...

, Urriolagoitía fled to Chile, where he settled in

. In exile, he wrote ''Bolivia (1825–1925)'' and stayed out of the political scene. He eventually returned to his native Sucre, where he died on 4 June 1974 at the age of 78.

References

Bibliography

*Mesa, José de; Gisbert, Teresa; and Carlos D. Mesa, ''Historia de Bolivia'', 3rd edition., pp. 579–587. {{DEFAULTSORT:Urriolagoitia, Mamerto 1895 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Bolivian lawyers 20th-century Bolivian politicians Bolivian diplomats Bolivian people of Basque descent Foreign ministers of Bolivia Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Bolivian senators from Chuquisaca People from Sucre Presidents of Bolivia Presidents of the Senate of Bolivia Republican Party (Bolivia) politicians Republican Socialist Unity Party politicians United Socialist Party (Bolivia) politicians University of Saint Francis Xavier alumni Vice presidents of Bolivia Bolivian expatriates in France