Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Bustamante (born July 1, 1930 in La Paz , Bolivia ), known as "Goni", is a Bolivian politician who was President of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997 and in 2002/2003.
Life
After a military coup, his father, a diplomat, fled into exile in the United States . In Chicago , Gonzalo took philosophy and English literature in college and graduated with very good grades.
After graduating, he went back to Bolivia and devoted himself to film art . After that he found an interest in aerial photography , mining, and finally politics.
Sánchez de Lozada was President of Bolivia for the first time between 1993 and 1997. On August 6, 2002 he was re-elected to the office of President as a candidate for the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR), where he prevailed against Evo Morales , the candidate of the Movimiento al Socialismo . After neither of the two candidates had an absolute majority after the election , Sánchez de Lozada, who won the most votes with 22.46 percent, was elected president by the newly elected parliament. This ended several weeks of political uncertainty in Bolivia.
Sánchez de Lozada announced extensive reforms and austerity measures, which in February 2003 led to a police strike. After he had reached agreements with US oil companies on the sale and export of natural gas at low prices, mass protests broke out in September, during which in October ( "black October" ) the military killed at least 60 and more than 400 were injured. In October 2003, Sánchez de Lozada was forced to resign and he fled into exile in the United States. Carlos Mesa took over the presidency.
In February 2005, the La Paz public prosecutor brought genocide charges against Sánchez de Lozada and 13 former ministers of his government. In October 2008, Bolivia filed an extradition request to the United States for Sánchez de Lozada and two of his former ministers (ex-Defense Minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaín and Ex-Energy Minister Jorge Berindoague). Her case is pending before the Supreme Court for genocide, breach of the constitution and embezzlement. In 2011 two ex-government ministers and five ex-military officers were sentenced to between three and 15 years in prison. Sánchez de Lozada enjoys political asylum in the USA and is still considered the richest man in Bolivia.
Sánchez de Lozada liked to be addressed by his nickname "Goni" (diminutive of the first name) in political life. Since he speaks Spanish with a broad American-English accent due to his childhood and youth in the USA , he was simply called "the gringo " for the majority of his critics .
See also
- History of Bolivia
- Die Wahlkampfin , a film based on the book "Our Brand Is Crisis" and depicting the 2002 election campaign, Sandra Bullock as campaign advisor and Joaquim de Almeida as candidate "Pedro Castillo"
Individual evidence
- ↑ teleSUR: Bolivia envió a EEUU trámite de extradición de Sánchez de Lozada ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , October 18, 2008
- ^ According to the agreement: Bolivia demands extradition of ex-president. In: amerika21. November 15, 2011, accessed November 19, 2011 .
Bibliography
- Rafael Sevilla / Ariel Benavides: Bolivia - the misunderstood country? Horlemann, Bad Honnef, 2001.
- Johannes Winter / Andre Schamansky: Are the Andean states ungovernable? Causes of the political crisis in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. In: Zeitschrift Entwicklungspolitik No. 14, year 2005, pages 30–34.
Web links
- Biography on the government website about the President of Bolivia (Spanish)
- Annette Schwarzbauer: Known President - Unknown Parliament ( Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung , country reports, August 7, 2002)
- Interview with Sánchez de Lozada from January 20, 2003 ( PBS ; English)
- Walter Chávez: Water War, Natural Gas War, Civil War ( Le Monde diplomatique , November 14, 2003)
predecessor | Office | successor |
---|---|---|
Jaime Paz Zamora Jorge Quiroga |
President of Bolivia 1993–1997 2002–2003 |
Hugo Banzer Carlos Mesa |
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Sánchez de Lozada, Gonzalo |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sánchez de Lozada Bustamante, Gonzalo |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bolivian President |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 1, 1930 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | La Paz , Bolivia |