Editing Hugo Banzer
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{{Villain_Infobox | {{Villain_Infobox | ||
| | |image = 51 - Hugo Banzer.jpg | ||
|fullname = Hugo Banzer Suárez | |fullname = Hugo Banzer Suárez | ||
|origin = Concepción, Santa Cruz, Bolivia | |origin = Concepción, Santa Cruz, Bolivia | ||
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Banzer was native to the rural lowlands of the Santa Cruz Department. He attended military schools in Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and the United States, including the Armored Cavalry School at Fort Hood, Texas. He took a Motor Officer Course at the [[School of the Americas]]. He was a descendant of the German immigrant Georg Banzer Schewetering. | Banzer was native to the rural lowlands of the Santa Cruz Department. He attended military schools in Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil and the United States, including the Armored Cavalry School at Fort Hood, Texas. He took a Motor Officer Course at the [[School of the Americas]]. He was a descendant of the German immigrant Georg Banzer Schewetering. | ||
Banzer was promoted to colonel in 1961, and appointed three years later to head the Ministry of Education and Culture in the government of General | Banzer was promoted to colonel in 1961, and appointed three years later to head the Ministry of Education and Culture in the government of General René Barrientos, a personal friend. Banzer became increasingly involved in politics, siding with the right wing of the Bolivian Army. He was also appointed director of the Military Academy and the Coronel Gualberto Villarroel Military School. | ||
In 1970, President | In 1970, President Juan José Torres was leading the country in a leftist direction, arousing the ire and mistrust of conservative anti-communist circles in Bolivia and, crucially, in the Nixon administration. He had called an Asamblea del Pueblo, or People's Assembly, in which representatives of specific "proletarian" sectors of society were represented (miners, unionized teachers, students, peasants). The Assembly was imbued with all the powers of a working parliament, even though the right-wing opponents of the regime tended to call it a gathering of virtual soviets. Torres also allowed labor leader, Juan Lechín, to resume his post as head of the Central Obrera Boliviana/Bolivian Workers' Union (COB). These measures, coupled with Ovando's earlier nationalization of Gulf Oil properties, angered his opponents even more, chief among whom was Banzer and his US supporters. In early 1971, a faction of the Bolivian military attempted to unseat the new president but failed, whereupon Banzer fled to Argentina, but did not give up his ambitions to the presidency. | ||
Banzer first seized power in a military coup against the incumbent leftist president, Juan José Torres, in 1971, with assistance from [[Richard Nixon]], the then-President of the United States who helped set up several right-wing military regimes in South America during this time period through [[Operation Condor]]. He would spend the next seven years ruling Bolivia as a military dictator. | Banzer first seized power in a military coup against the incumbent leftist president, Juan José Torres, in 1971, with assistance from [[Richard Nixon]], the then-President of the United States who helped set up several right-wing military regimes in South America during this time period through [[Operation Condor]]. He would spend the next seven years ruling Bolivia as a military dictator. | ||