Editing Plurinational State of Bolivia

{{Message box/Missing Sources}}{{Infobox country|name=Plurinational State of Bolivia|native_name=Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia<br>Tetã Hetãvoregua Mborivia<br>Wuliwya Suyu<br>Puliwya Mamallaqta|population_estimate=11,428,245|population_estimate_year=2019|image_coat=Bolivia COA.svg|capital=Sucre<br>La Paz|largest_city=Santa Cruz de la Sierra|area_km2=1,098,581|government_type=Unitary presidential republic|leader_title1=President|leader_title2=Vice President|leader_name1=[[Luis Arce]]|leader_name2=[[David Choquehuanca]]|image_flag2=Wiphala.svg|flag_caption=Top: State flag<br>Bottom: Indigenous flag|currency=Boliviano|image_map=Bolivia map.svg|map_width=290|capital_type=Capitals|common_languages=Spanish<br>Guarani<br>Aymara<br>Quechua|image_flag=Flag of Bolivia.svg}}'''Bolivia''', officially the '''Plurinational State of Bolivia''', is a country in [[South America]] bordered by [[Federative Republic of Brazil|Brazil]], [[Republic of Peru|Peru]], [[Republic of Chile|Chile]], [[Argentine Republic|Argentina]] and [[Republic of Paraguay|Paraguay]]. It is currently led by a [[Democratic socialism|socialist]] government with the current ruling party being the [[Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)|Movement for Socialism]] (MAS) which has been in power since 2006, except for a year-long coup which occurred in 2019. The MAS party has implemented many socialist policies that have achieved numerous social achievements. Bolivia has been the target of multiple [[CIA]] coups.

== History ==

=== Pre-colonial history ===
Bolivia is home to numerous indigenous nations, most notably part of the [[Realm of the Four Parts (1438–1533)|Incan Empire]], a thriving civilisation that lasted from around 1400 until about 1533 when it fell as a result of civil war, disease brought from Europe, and [[Colonialism|colonization]] by [[Monarchy of Spain (1516–1700)|Spain]] led by the brutal conquistador [[Francisco Pizarro]].<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Mark Cartwright|date=2015-8-14|title=Inca Civilization|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Inca_Civilization/}}</ref> 

=== Spanish colonization ===
The initial looting of South America by European forces was initially fixated on silver and gold to personally enrich the conquistadors, and Spain mined the 4-km mountain of Potosí, uncovering 94 silver veins.<ref name=":12222">{{Citation|author=[[Vijay Prashad]]|year=2008|title=The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World|chapter=La Paz|page=|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceascnzh26r5d6uitjjs2z7rflhaxlt7rboz5whzdf76qg6xxvecqq?filename=%28A%20New%20Press%20People%27s%20history%29%20Vijay%20Prashad%20-%20The%20darker%20nations_%20a%20people%27s%20history%20of%20the%20third%20world-The%20New%20Press%20%282008%29.pdf|publisher=The New Press|isbn=9781595583420|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=9B40B96E830128A7FE0E0E887C06829F}}</ref><sup>:134–5</sup> However, the invading forces soon realised this would not be a sustainable source of wealth since merely increasing the amount of gold and silver would eventually just cause [[inflation]] for the colonising forces. The real source of wealth for the Spanish was found in brutal exploitation of the indigenous nations through the encomienda system.<ref name=":0">{{Citation|author=Teresa A. Meade|year=2016|title=A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to the present 2nd Edition|chapter=Chapter 2|section=Colonial Background|page=26}}</ref> The encomienda system granted land and indigenous subjects, which were essentially [[Slavery|slaves]], as a reward to nobles and soldiers from Spain.<ref name=":0" /> 

Most of the class politics in modern Bolivia can trace their roots to colonization and the encomienda system. The [[Feudalism|feudal]] nature of the encomienda system would change over time, but the process of extracting labor and resources from Bolivians to the [[imperial core]] (the [[United States of America|U.S.]] and Europe) has remained a principal problem for Bolivians which would not be effectively overcome until the seizing of state power by the [[Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)|Movement for Socialism]] in 2006. 

=== Independence ===
During the 19th century, independence movements swept through the Americas. The racial and class politics of Latin America was and is very complex with competing notions of independence such as the independence for nobility, indigenous nations, and African slaves who were now large in number due to the Atlantic slave trade. South American independence movements began gaining ground in the early 1800s and were led by elite Creole (mixed race) South Americans who had increasingly differing desires than those of the colonial authorities. [[Simón Bolívar]], along with his right-hand man Antonio José de Sucre, led multiple wars and rebellions over the course of decades beginning around 1800 against Spanish Royalists in modern day [[Republic of Colombia|Colombia]], [[Republic of Ecuador|Ecuador]], and [[Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela|Venezuela]] in pursuit of a united South American Republic.<ref name=":1">{{Citation|author=Teresa A. Meade|year=2016|title=A History of Modern Latin America|chapter=Chapter 3: Competing Notions of Freedom|section=South American Independence Movements|page=73-75|city=USA|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc.}}</ref> In the Southern Cone of Argentina and Chile, José San Martín led an army made up of former slaves and poor [[Peasantry|peasants]] in a triumphant march across the Andes mountains to defeat the Spanish royalists in Chacabuco Chile in July of 1821.<ref name=":1" /> The struggle against the Spanish Crown finally ended on July 26 of 1822 when Bolívar's and San Martín's armies converged in Ecuador to defeat the Spanish ending a two decade long struggle. 

Post-independence Bolivian history was marked by internal struggles amongst the ruling elites typically fighting over personal gain resulting in coups, massacres, and even civil war. Tin replaced silver as the dominant metal, and the tin oligarch [[Simón Iturri Patiño]] controlled Bolivia through his representatives after moving to Europe.<ref name=":12222" /><sup>:135</sup> 

=== War of the Pacific (1879–1882) ===
In 1879 Bolivia and Peru were drawn by [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland|British]] capital into the [[War of the Pacific]] against neighboring Chile which resulted in Bolivia's loss of a part of the  Atacama Desert, a region rich in nitrates, which also caused Bolivia to lose sea access.<ref>{{Citation|author=G. A. Ignatovich, B. I. Koval’, IU. P. Pavlov|year=1979|title=The Great Soviet Encyclopedia|title-url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Bolivia|chapter=Bolivia|section=The formation and development of the independent state}}</ref> This war caused Bolivia to become one of only two landlocked countries in South America with the other being neighbouring [[Republic of Paraguay|Paraguay]]. Bolivia's status as a landlocked country has had negative impacts to this day and remains a diplomatic issue between Bolivia and Chile.

=== Chaco War (1932–1935) ===
The Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over the sparsely populated and semi-arid land between the two countries. Some attribute the war to a dispute between the U.S. oil company [[Standard Oil]] (backing Bolivia) and the Royal Dutch Shell (backing Paraguay).<ref name=":2">{{Citation|author=Marc Becker|year=2017|title=Twentieth century Latin American revolutions|chapter=Chapter 3: Bolivia's nationalist revolution, 1952-1964|section=Chaco War|page=84-85|quote=|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield}}</ref> By the end of the war, tens of thousands lay dead on both sides. 

The soldiers were made up of the indigenous peasantry and the urban middle class who would both become aware of their mutual states of impoverishment.<ref name=":2" /> After the war, the oppressed draftees would not return to their roles passively. Indigenous activists who had gained a new perspective on their exploitation would go on to form the first labor unions of Bolivia in the years following the Chaco War.<ref name=":2" /> 

The Chaco War resulted in another humiliating loss of territory and human lives which had the unforeseen consequence of raising the class conciseness of the oppressed indigenous masses. The following decades would see the organized indigenous labor become a crucial political force in Bolivia. 

=== Emergence of Bolivian labor (1935–1952) ===
The economic and political crises spurred by the [[Great Depression]] and the Chaco War sparked the founding of numerous leftist political parties, such as the pro-[[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1922–1991)|Soviet]] [[Revolutionary Left Party]] (PIR) and the [[Trotskyism|Trotskyist]] [[Revolutionary Workers' Party (Bolivia)|Revolutionary Workers' Party]] (POR), showcasing a serious desire for systemic change in Bolivia.<ref name=":2" /> Military leader David Toro, de facto 35th president of Bolivia from 1936–1937, capitalized on the leftist movements by nationalizing Standard Oil which many had felt was responsible for the disastrous Chaco War.<ref>{{News citation|title=The Americanisation of Bolivian Oil|url=https://nacla.org/article/americanization-bolivian-oil|newspaper=NACLA|archive-date=September 25, 2007|retrieved=February 10, 2022}}</ref> This marks the first time the left had won major gains indicating the increasing importance of the long toiling indigenous masses. 

In 1941, the most important political party of the era, the [[Revolutionary Nationalist Movement]] (MNR), was founded by moderate-left and [[Petty bourgeoisie|middle-class]] intellectuals.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|author=Marc Becker|year=2017|title=Twentieth century Latin American revolutions|chapter=Chapter 3: Bolivia's Nationalist Revolution|section=Socialism|page=86|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield}}</ref> In December of 1942, government forces under conservative president General Enrique Peñaranda opened fire on striking miners from Patiña Catavi mine killing hundreds. The MNR, led by [[Víctor Paz Estenssoro]], opportunistically capitalized on this tragedy by attacking the Peñaranda government and supporting the miners thus winning over the support of much of Bolivia's labor movement for their party.<ref name=":4">{{Citation|author=Marc Becker|year=2017|title=Twentieth-Century Latin American Revolutions|chapter=Chapter 3: Bolivia's Revolution, 1952-1964|section=Socialism|page=8}}</ref> This marked another major example of political forces in Bolivia beginning to see the usefulness in organized labor as a crucial political ally. Throughout Bolivia's history, the mining of natural resources has been the most crucial aspect of the economy. Bolivia has long been oriented towards exporting to the imperial core which has left Bolivia underdeveloped and unequal despite the riches that are produced within the country. The significance of a consolidation of power of indigenous miners is crucial since resource sovereignty must be achieved before any progressive agendas could be enacted. The organisation of Bolivia's miners would go on to be the backbone of left-wing movements in Bolivia. 

Social unrest would continue for the next few years as the MNR and factions within the military began consolidating power. In 1943, an important secret society within the military called the Razón de Patria (RADEPA) formed which would seize power with the help of the MNR.<ref name=":4" /> Major Gualberto Villarroel emerged as the new leader of the military junta that ruled Bolivia which the United States refused to recognize until the MNR was expelled from the official government.<ref name=":4" /> In 1945, the Villarroel administration supported the founding of the National Indigenous Congress which marked the first time the indigenous masses were included in official Bolivian politics.<ref name=":4" /> The Villarroel would govern Bolivia for three years until the regime fell out of popularity after harsh political repression of the opposition.<ref name=":5">{{Citation|author=Marc Becker|year=2017|title=Twentieth-Century Latin America Revolutions|chapter=Chapter 3: Bolivia's Nationalist Revolution, 1952-1964|section=Socialism|page=93}}</ref> Villarroel was killed during a popular protest turned riot in July of 1946. From 1946-1952, Bolivia would be led by a series of repressive conservative leaders forcing the MNR to go into exile. The MNR conducted clandestine activities and underwent the process of recreating its image as a left-winged party due to pushes from the grassroots within the party.<ref name=":5" /> Despite the leftward shift, the MNR was not organized as a party of the workers and peasants against the ruling elites. The MNR was a multi-class formation largely ran by middle-class activists, young people, and students that worked with and received support from indigenous miners and other workers.<ref name=":5" /> 

=== Nationalist revolution (1952–1964) ===
The MNR won a plurality of the vote in the 1951 election, but the military prevented the party from taking power. Left with no legal options, the MNR distributed arms to the miners and proceeded to overthrow the largely defunct government, propelling Víctor Paz Estenssoro to the presidency.<ref>{{Citation|author=Marc Becker|year=2017|title=Twentieth Century Latin American Revolutions|chapter=Chapter 3: Bolivia's Nationalist Revolution|section=Insurrection|page=95|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield}}</ref> The MNR government proceeded to carry out a radical reform agenda with the support of the militant indigenous miners at the grassroots levels. The reform agenda included breaking up large estates and giving out parcels of land directly to indigenous peasants, nationalizing the tin mines, and granting universal suffrage by abolishing literacy requirements for voting that had kept the indigenous masses from participating in politics since the founding of the republic.<ref name=":6">{{Citation|author=Teresa A. Meade|year=2016|title=A History of Modern Latin America: 1800 to Present|chapter=Chapter 10: Post-World War II Struggles for Sovereignty|page=234-237|publisher=John Wiley & Sons}}</ref> Before the land reform, the 6% of [[Landlord|landlords]] controlled 92% of land but only had 1.5% of their land under cultivation. The revolution weakened the military, shutting down the Military College, cutting the military budget from 22% to 7%, and removing 20% of officers while trying to arm the peasants at the same time. However, the USA sent over $5 million to the Bolivian military in 1962 and 1963.<ref name=":12222" /><sup>:136–7</sup> 

The Nationalist Revolution was a very important moment in the history of Bolivia showcasing the importance and power indigenous miners and peasants could have when they mobilized, but the revolution would quickly unravel. By the late 1950s, the more conservative faction of the MNR was in power. In 1962, Paz encouraged the military to crack down on civilian militias.<ref name=":12222" /><sup>:138</sup> The land reform carried out by the indigenous peasants would soon be consolidated once again by elite Bolivians with more resources and the nationalized mines would fall into the hands of the mine owners again by 1963.<ref name=":6" />

President Paz would go on to betray the working class base his party had relied on to seize power by breaking by sending in the military to gun down striking miners.<ref name=":6" /> He removed the socialist [[Juan Lechín]], his vice president, from his ticket for the 1964 election.<ref name=":12222" /><sup>:138</sup> In 1964, the revolution formally ended when the military, with the support of the CIA, returned to power under the dictatorship of General [[René Barrientos]].<ref>{{Citation|author=William Blum|year=2000|title=Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Super Power|chapter=A Concise History of US Global Interventions|page=144|publisher=Common Courage Press}}</ref> The following decades would see the rule of various semi-[[Fascism|fascist]] and [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] regimes with the exception of [[Juan Torres]].
=== Operation Condor ===
Juan Torres, one of the most left-leaning officers in the Bolivian military, seized power amongst an internal military struggle and attempted to enact a progressive agenda. In 1971, the [[United States]] overthrew Juan Torres, who was later kidnapped and killed by CIA-backed death squads.<ref>{{News citation|date=2016-09-18|title=10 of the Most Lethal CIA Interventions in Latin America|url=https://www.telesurenglish.net/analysis/10-of-the-Most-Lethal-CIA-Interventions-in-Latin-America-20160608-0031.html|newspaper=Telesur English|retrieved=2022-02-11}}</ref> His successor, [[Hugo Banzer]], tortured and executed thousands of dissidents and brutally crushed a strike of tin workers. In 1975, the CIA gave Banzer information that was used to locate and target leftist priests and nuns.

=== Movement for Socialism ===
In 2006, [[Evo Morales]], a member of the [[Movement for Socialism (Bolivia)|Movement for Socialism]] party and the first indigenous president of Bolivia, was elected. His policies decreased total poverty by 25% and extreme poverty by 43%.<ref>{{News citation|author=Ellie Mae O'Hagan|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|title=Evo Morales has proved that socialism doesn’t damage economies|date=2014-10-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120220822/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/14/evo-morales-reelected-socialism-doesnt-damage-economies-bolivia|archive-date=2020-01-20}}</ref> From 2006 to 2017, the economy grew by an average of 4.9% per year.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[TeleSur]]|title=Bolivia Closes 2018 Among The Highest Economic Growth Rates|date=2018-12-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113203751/https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Bolivia-Closes-2018-Among-The-Highest-Economic-Growth-Rates-20181208-0022.html|archive-date=2020-01-13}}</ref> In 2014, Bolivia was declared free of illiteracy.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[TeleSur]]|title=UNESCO Declares Bolivia Free of Illiteracy|date=2014-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202051450/https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/UNESCO-Declares-Bolivia-Free-of-Illiteracy-20140721-0048.html|archive-date=2019-12-02}}</ref>

In 2019, the CIA organized a military coup against Morales after he won the 2019 election by more than 10%. The United States created over 60,000 fake Twitter accounts to spread capitalist propaganda and [[Jeanine Áñez]] took power without an election. Áñez was an imperialist liberal who called the indigenous Aymara people "satanic."<ref>{{News citation|journalist=Valentina De Marval|date=2019-11-15|title=Did Bolivia’s interim president delete anti-indigenous tweets?|url=https://factcheck.afp.com/did-bolivias-interim-president-delete-anti-indigenous-tweets|newspaper=AFP Fact Check|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=2021-12-30}}</ref> In 2020, a general election was held and [[Luis Arce]], another member of Movement for Socialism, won the election in a landslide. This election was confirmed to be fair by international observers.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=|date=2020-10-23|title=ONU, OEA y Uniore descartan fraude en elecciones generales|url=https://www.paginasiete.bo/nacional/2020/10/23/onu-oea-uniore-descartan-fraude-en-elecciones-generales-272528.html|newspaper=Página Siete|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=2021-12-30}}</ref>

In January of 2022, the Bolivian government intercepted US weapons that were intended for right-wing separatist groups in the wealthy Santa Cruz region.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Ben Norton]]|date=2022-01-15|title=Bolivian intercepts US weapons shipment to right-wing separatist region|url=https://youtu.be/ZFxyYZwPni8|newspaper=[[Moderate Rebels]]}}</ref>

In June of 2024, a coup attempt by a right-wing faction of the military was swiftly halted by the Bolivian government and protestors.<ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[TeleSur]]|title=President Luis Arce Appoints New Military Command and Fails Coup Attempt|date=2024-06-26|url=https://www.telesurenglish.net/president-luis-arce-appoints-new-military-command-and-fails-coup-attempt/?noamp=available}}
</ref><ref>{{News citation|newspaper=[[BreakThrough News]]|title=Pro-coup Bolivian troops are chased out of La Paz's central plaza by protesters. #bolivia|date=2024-06-26|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDbK0Ff-gtE}}</ref>
== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Countries]]
[[Category:Latin American countries]]
[[Category:Countries targeted by CIA coups]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialist states]]