User:Krisgabwoosh/1978 Bolivian general election

1978 Bolivian general election

9 July 1978
Presidential election
Registered	1,922,556
Turnout	103.49%
Candidate Juan Pereda Hernán Siles Zuazo Party Independent MNRI Alliance UNP FUDP Running mate Alfredo Franco Edil Sandoval Morón Popular vote 985,140 484,383 Percentage 50.88% 25.00%   Candidate Víctor Paz Estenssoro René Bernal Party MNRH Independent Alliance ADRN PDC Running mate Wálter Guevara Remo Di Natale Popular vote 213,662 167,131 Percentage 11.03% 8.63%
President before election Hugo Banzer FFAA Elected president Election results annulled Juan Pereda (UNP) installed in a coup d'état
Legislative election
All 27 seats in the National Senate All 111 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Party Seats +/– National Senate Nationalist Union of the People 16 New Democratic and Popular Unity Front 4 New Democratic Alliance of the National Revolution 4 +4 Christian Democratic Party 3 +3 Chamber of Deputies Nationalist Union of the People 77 New Democratic and Popular Unity Front 16 New Christian Democratic Party 10 +10 Democratic Alliance of the National Revolution 8 +8 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 1978 Bolivian general election was held on Sunday, 9 July 1978. Voters went to the polls to elect the president and vice president and all seats in the bicameral 138-member National Congress, for a four-year term. This was the first general election of the democratic transition, beginning a tumultuous period of democratization lasting through 1982.

In the span of fourteen years, Bolivia experienced a series of successive military dictatorships. A general election had not been held since 1966. The most recent regime, headed by Hugo Banzer, took control in 1971 and held power for almost seven years. By 1977, pressured by several internal and external factors, Banzer opened the way for democratization and scheduled new elections for the following year. A broad amnesty was declared, and political activity was legalized for the first time since 1974.

Former presidents Hernán Siles Zuazo of the Democratic and Popular Unity Front and Víctor Paz Estenssoro of the Democratic Alliance of the National Revolution returned from exile to contest the election. The government backed its own candidate: Juan Pereda of the Nationalist Union of the People. An additional six fronts ran candidates; Luciano Tapia became the first indigenous person to run for president, and Domitila Chungara the first woman for vice president.

Official tallies gave the victory to Pereda, with a majority of the popular vote. However, the results were beset by evident signs of widespread and systematic electoral fraud. Official data was altered from day to day, opposition votes were subtracted, Pereda's margin was inflated, and the final count indicated that more votes were cast than existed registered voters. Amid a public outcry, electoral authorities stepped in to annul the results. Pereda seized power in a coup d'état days later.

Background

Military rule and the Banzer regime

Main article: History of Bolivia (1964–1982)

Beginning in 1964, Bolivia entered a protracted period of military dictatorship under the tutelage of the Armed Forces. For fourteen years – with one brief interregnum – the nation was subjected to a series of successive military governments. The last general election to take place occurred in 1966 and was organized and won by the military candidate. The most recent and longest-lasting regime, under the leadership of Hugo Banzer, came to power in 1971 and remained in office by 1978.

For the first half of his term, Banzer governed alongside conservative elements of the political class that had abetted his ascent. The Armed Forces integrated the Nationalist Popular Front (FPN), a curious coalition that united two erstwhile rivals: the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) of Víctor Paz Estenssoro and the Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB) of Mario Gutiérrez. Relations between political heads and the military soured in 1974, leading Banzer to enact a self-coup. Promised elections were postponed, political and trade union activity banned, and a more outwardly totalitarian regime took hold.

Reluctant democratic opening

The original intent of the military regime was to remain in power until 1980, then call a general election. This would be preceded by a period of "institutionalization" between 1978 and 1979, in which several constitutional reforms were to be put to a public referendum. Banzer envisioned a "new democracy" that consolidated the "transformations" made since his regime first took power.

Entering 1978, a series of internal and external factors pressured the government to accelerate its election schedule. In the international sphere, the newly-elected Jimmy Carter administration began to orient the United States away from its foreign policy of regime change and support for authoritarian governments toward an emphasis on human rights and gradual democratization in Latin America. At home, the Banzer regime faced a looming financial crisis, public challenges to its oppressive human rights record, and the fallout of failed diplomatic talks with Chile. (APDHB 11-13) These factors combined to produce a back-to-the-barracks sentiment among sectors of the military. (APDHB 13-14)

On 9 November 1977, amid mounting pressure, Banzer made a surprise proclamation calling elections for 1978 – nearly three years in advance of the originally intended date. A subsequent decree on 1 December set the election date for 9 July, with the electorate set to vote for president, vice president, and congressional representatives, who would act as a constituent assembly for the first 120 days. A limited amnesty was declared, and the right to political activity restored, but the democratic opening remained restricted. Few political parties could truly resume activities, as their leaders remained detained, repressed, or in exile. Almost immediately, a campaign for more meaningful democratic freedoms began. By year's end, a hunger strike led by several women mineworkers had erupted into a mass movement that stretched into the new year. Public pressure finally forced the government to concede a general amnesty and re-legalize trade unions in January 1978. The return from exile of opposition labor and political leaders gave the election a more open and competitive tinge than the military initially intended.

Candidates and campaigns

Nationalist Union of the People

See APDHB, p. 9

replacement of the legislature in favor of a "body of representatives" of different social strata

Alliance		Endorsement			Leader
	Juan Pereda Nationalist Union of the People		FSB	Bolivian Socialist Falange	Gastón Moreira
			MNR	Revolutionary Nationalist Movement	Rubén Julio
			PRA	Authentic Revolutionary Party	Jorge Ríos
			UNB	Barrientist National Union
			PIR	Revolutionary Left Party	Ricardo Anaya
			CUN	National Unity Committee	Ronald MacLean
Source: APDHB 1979, p. 26

Democratic and Popular Unity Front

Alliance		Endorsement			Leader
	Hernán Siles Zuazo Democratic and Popular Unity Front		MNRI	Left-wing Revolutionary Nationalist Movement	Hernán Siles
			PCB	Communist Party of Bolivia	Jorge Kolle
			MIR	Revolutionary Left Movement	Jaime Paz
			MIN	National Left Movement	Luis Sandoval
			PS-A	Socialist Party – Aponte	Guillermo Aponte
			MRTK	Túpac Katari Revolutionary Movement	Clemente Ramos
Source: APDHB 1979, p. 26

Democratic Alliance of the National Revolution

Alliance		Endorsement			Leader
	Víctor Paz Estenssoro Democratic Alliance of the National Revolution		MNRH	Historic Revolutionary Nationalist Movement	Víctor Paz
			PRA	Authentic Revolutionary Party	Wálter Guevara
Source: APDHB 1979, p. 26

Results

Candidate		Running mate		Party or alliance		Votes	%
	Juan Pereda		Alfredo Franco		Nationalist Union of the People	985,140	50.88
	Hernán Siles Zuazo		Edil Sandoval Morón		Democratic and Popular Unity Front	484,383	25.01
	Víctor Paz Estenssoro		Wálter Guevara		Democratic Alliance of the National Revolution	213,662	11.03
	René Bernal		Remio Di Natale		Christian Democratic Party	167,131	8.63
	Juan Pereda		Jaime Arellano		Revolutionary Nationalist Movement of the People	40,905	2.11
	Casiano Amurrio		Domitila Chungara		Revolutionary Left Front	23,459	1.21
	Luciano Tapia		Isidoro Copa		Túpac Katari Indian Movement	12,207	0.63
	Marcelo Quiroga Santa Cruz		Carlos Gómez		Socialist Party	8,323	0.43
	René Bernal		Remio Di Natale		Eastern Rural Party	1,171	0.06
Total						1,936,381	100.00
Valid votes						1,936,381	97.32
Invalid/blank votes						53,330	2.68
Total votes						1,989,711	100.00
Registered voters/turnout						1,922,556	103.49
Source: Mesa Gisbert 2016, p. 191

By department

APDHB p. 69

• Chuquisaca: UDP, UNP
• La Paz: UNP, UDP
• Cochabamba: UNP, PDC
• Oruro (Presencia 20/07/78 p. 4): PDC, UNP
• Potosi: UNP, UDP
• Tarija: UNP, ADRN
• Santa Cruz: UNP, ADRN
• Beni: UNP, ADRN
• Pando: UNP, ADRN

https://archive.org/details/dunkerleyjames.rebelionenlasvenas

https://archive.org/details/poderyfuerzasarm0000prad

https://biblioteca.cipca.org.bo/cuadernos-de-investigacion/el-nuevo-campesinado-ante-el-fraude

https://archive.org/details/poderyfuerzasarm0000prad

Aftermath

Los gobiernos bolivianos entre 1978 y 1982 fueron todos transitorios. (MS 223)

References

Works cited

Print publications

• Presencia (in Spanish). La Paz. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Individual chapters

• Cajías, Lupe; Velásquez, Iván. "La CPE de 1967 y el periodo militar dictatorial (1964–1982)". In Cajías & Velásquez-Castellanos (2021), pp. 189–198.
• Machicado Saravia, Eduardo. "Restaurar no es Emancipar: Guerrillas y conspiraciones en Bolivia. Dos décadas de revueltas (1964–1985)". In Cajías & Velásquez-Castellanos (2021), pp. 199–232.
• Mesa Gisbert, Carlos D. "Bajo el signo de las Fuerzas Armadas". In De Mesa, Gisbert & Mesa Gisbert (2007), pp. 511–536.
• Prado Salmón, Gary. "Fuerzas Armadas y Nacionalismo Revolucionario (1936–2020)". In Cajías & Velásquez-Castellanos (2021), pp. 233–274.

Books and encyclopedias

• Alcoreza, Carmen; Albó, Xavier (1979). 1978: El nuevo campesinado ante el fraude (in Spanish). La Paz: Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado. OCLC 494760719.
• Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos de Bolivia (1979). El fraude electoral: Un atentado contra la voluntad popular. Elecciones nacionales del 9 de julio de 1978 (in Spanish). La Paz: Ediciones de la APDHB. OCLC 245662988.
• Cajías, Lupe; Velásquez-Castellanos, Iván Omar, eds. (2021). Un amor desenfrenado por la libertad: Antología de la historia política de Bolivia (1825–2020) (in Spanish). Vol. II. La Paz: Fundación Konrad Adenauer. ISBN 978-9917-9933-3-9. OCLC 1322013554.
• Céspedes, Marcelo (1982). Los bolivianos ¿estamos maduros para la democracia?: Las experiencias electorales de 1978, 1979 y 1980 (in Spanish). La Paz: Empresa Editora Khana Cruz. OCLC 9644907.
• Chin, John J.; Wright, Joseph; Carter, David B. (2022). Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups d'État. Vol. I. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-2068-2. OCLC 1333688296.
• De Mesa, José; Gisbert, Teresa; Mesa Gisbert, Carlos D. (2007). Historia de Bolivia (in Spanish) (6th ed.). La Paz: Editorial Gisbert. ISBN 978-999-05-833-1-1. OCLC 1412647625.
• Leaño Román, Eduardo (2005). Sistemas electorales en Bolivia: La conversión de votos en cargos del Ejecutivo y Legislativo (in Spanish). La Paz: Corte Nacional Electoral. OCLC 100608037.
• Mesa Gisbert, Carlos D. (2016). Presidentes de Bolivia: Entre urnas y fusiles. El poder ejecutivo: Los ministros de Estado (in Spanish) (5th ed.). La Paz: Editorial Gisbert. ISBN 978-99974-834-8-5.