Germán Busch Becerra

Germán Busch Becerra

Germán Busch Becerra (born March 23, 1904 in San Javier , † August 23, 1939 in La Paz ) was a Bolivian officer in the Chaco War . He was President of Bolivia from 1937 until his death in 1939 .

Life

Childhood and upbringing

Germán Busch Becerra was born on March 23, 1904 in San Javier in the Santa Cruz Department . His father was German, his mother Spanish. While his father spent a few years in Germany for health reasons during Germán's childhood, Germán Busch Becerra grew up in Trinidad , where he first attended elementary school and entered a military school at the age of 18. The German officer Hans Kundt , who had settled in Bolivia after the First World War to reorganize the Bolivian army , taught here.

Military career

In 1924, at the age of 21, Busch Becerra was promoted to sub- lieutenant. He was appointed Kundt's adjutant, and later temporarily also by Ernst Röhm . In the following years he made a quick career as Chief of Staff . During this time he also married and had three sons.

From 1932 Germán Busch Becerra was used in the Chaco War against Paraguay and quickly made a reputation for himself as an extremely brave and spirited fighter. Here he was also given the nickname Corsair of the Primeval Forest ("El Corsario de la Selva") and was finally awarded the Great Military Cross of Merit in 1935 ("Gran Cruz al Mérito Militar").

During the Chaco War, there was massive internal political tensions in Bolivia, as a result of which the Bolivian government was successfully couped several times. Germán Busch Becerra initially took part in the controversial coup against Daniel Salamanca Urey in November 1934, in which the military accused the president of being incapable of waging war. Salamanca's successor was the previous Vice President, José Luis Tejada Sorzano . Only two years later, Germán Busch Becerra took part again in the coup d'état , helping his old comrade David Toro to the office of President on May 17, 1936.

In the immediate aftermath, Toro tried to implement several nationalist and anti-oligarchist reforms under the catchphrase of military socialism . During this time, Busch worked in the Toro government as chief of staff and expropriated for the government, for example. B. the oil discoveries of the American company Standard Oil from New Jersey .

On July 13, 1937, however, José David Toro Ruilova was overthrown by the military on the grounds that the regime had damaged Toro's dubious past.

Presidency

After taking power, Germán Busch Becerra was appointed president and had his office subsequently confirmed by a national assembly.

During his tenure, he was able to end the war with Paraguay and restore the constitution that had been repealed in the 1936 coup. In addition, he tried to find a political course that could calm the unrest in the country. In addition to the introduction of social security and greater legal equality, this period was strongly characterized by nationalizations: The Bolivian Central Bank was nationalized, and the large (mainly foreign) mining companies were to leave their foreign currency entirely to the state. Because of ongoing domestic political unrest and as a consequence of the inaction of the political parties, Busch finally declared himself dictator of the country in 1939. Although he had broad support among his own people for these measures, the diplomatic tension on the eve of World War II led to fierce criticism from the United States, which relied on Bolivia's tin exports.

On August 23, 1939, Germán Busch Becerra died of unknown causes - with a high probability of suicide. However, the prevailing opinion is that the unexpected death was murder.

Politics under Germán Busch Becerra

One of the most important measures taken by the Busch government was the re-enactment of the 1880 constitution, which was temporarily suspended in 1936, followed by some drastic constitutional changes on the social issue, family rights and freedom of belief and conscience. In addition to the creation of a labor law, z. B. launched a social insurance.

During Busch's tenure, a peace treaty was negotiated with Paraguay and the new border was recognized. Another area change was the Pando Department , which was previously called the Territorio Nacional de Colonias .

Busch nationalized the Bolivian National Bank for economic policy . In this move he tried to oblige the (mainly foreign) mining companies to leave all foreign currency to the state. In return, he wanted the departments to share 11% of the profits with oil discoveries.

Although Busch only played a subordinate role in the development of the country, his work in Bolivia is now largely viewed positively.

See also

• History of Bolivia
• Germán Busch Province
• Puerto bush

Web links

• Busch Putsch - Time Magazine ( May 8, 1939 )
• Newspaper article about Germán Busch Becerra in the press kit of the 20th century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .

predecessor	Office	successor
David Toro	President of Bolivia 1937 - 1939	Carlos Quintanilla Quiroga