Guido Vildoso

59th President of Bolivia

Guido Vildoso


59th President of Bolivia
In office 21 July 1982 – 10 October 1982
Vice President	Vacant
Preceded by	Celso Torrelio
Succeeded by	Hernán Siles Zuazo
Minister of Social Security and Health
In office 9 November 1976 – 21 July 1978
President	Hugo Banzer
Preceded by	Jorge Torrez Navarro
Succeeded by	Oscar Román Vaca

Personal details
Born	Guido Hernán Vildoso Calderón (1937-04-05) 5 April 1937 (age 87) La Paz, Bolivia
Parent(s)	Dilipio Vildoso Rejas Etelvina Calderón Meruvia
Education	Military College of the Army
Signature

General Guido Hernán Vildoso Calderón (born 5 April 1937, La Paz, Bolivia) is a former Bolivian military officer who served as the de facto 59th president of Bolivia in 1982. He was Bolivia's final de facto president.

Biography

Born in La Paz on 5 April 1937, Vildoso joined the Bolivian armed forces and took specialized courses in Brazil, Panama, and the United States. In the 1970s he served in the cabinet of military dictator Hugo Banzer. Vildoso was second in command in the Bolivian Army when, in July 1982, he was entrusted by his peers with the task of extricating the military from power and returning the country to constitutional, democratic rule after a period of several dictatorships. His appointment followed the highly unpopular 1980–82 dictatorships of Luis García Meza and Celso Torrelio.

Presidency (1982)

Vildoso became president of Bolivia on 21 July 1982. Faced with a grave social, economic and fiscal crisis, Vildoso accelerated the re-democratization process. He and his fellow commanders essentially had two options: call new elections, or to reconvene the 1980 Congress and respect the results of that year's presidential contest. When it became apparent that the country would crumble into civil war before new elections could be held, Vildoso's junta recalled the 1980 Congress and promised to accept its choice of president. Congress reconvened on 23 September, and its virtual first act was to reconfirm the 1980 election results, which showed former president Hernán Siles Zuazo well ahead, though short of a majority. On 5 October, Congress overwhelmingly elected Siles as president.

Vildoso returned the presidential emblems to Congress on October 10, 1982, thus closing the door on military control of Bolivia. This gesture allowed Siles to formally take office later that day. Nonetheless, Vildoso and his cabinet were loudly booed by the population present at the transfer of power to Siles. The Bolivian Congress did later acknowledge Vildoso for his two main accomplishments: restoring democracy to Bolivia with no bloodshed and developing the fundamentals of the economic plan, 21060, that was later used by President Víctor Paz Estenssoro to restore sound macroeconomic variables to the nation.

Post-presidency (1982–present)

After the handover of authority, Vildoso retired from the military and currently lives in Cochabamba. He is reportedly highly regarded by Bolivian citizens. To date, he is the last non-constitutional ruler of the country.

References

Prado Salmón, Gral. Gary. "Poder y Fuerzas Armadas, 1949-1982."

Presidents of Bolivia

▌Simón Bolívar (1825)

▌Antonio José de Sucre (1825–1828)

▌José María Pérez de Urdininea (1828)

▌José Miguel de Velasco (1828)

▌Pedro Blanco Soto (1828–1829)

▌José Miguel de Velasco (1829)

▌Andrés de Santa Cruz (1829–1839)

▌José Miguel de Velasco (1839–1841)

▌Sebastián Ágreda (1841)

▌Mariano Enrique Calvo (1841)

▌José Ballivián (1841–1847)

▌Eusebio Guilarte (1847–1848)

▌José Miguel de Velasco (1848)

▌Manuel Isidoro Belzu (1848–1855)

▌Jorge Córdova (1855–1857)

▌José María Linares (1857–1861)

▌José María de Achá (1861–1864)

▌Mariano Melgarejo (1864–1871)

▌Agustín Morales (1871–1872)

▌Tomás Frías (1872–1873)

▌Adolfo Ballivián (1873–1874)

▌Tomás Frías (1874–1876)

▌Hilarión Daza (1876–1879)

▌Narciso Campero (1880–1884)

▌Gregorio Pacheco (1884–1888)

▌Aniceto Arce (1888–1892)

▌Mariano Baptista (1892–1896)

▌Severo Fernández (1896–1899)

▌José Manuel Pando (1899–1904)

▌Ismael Montes (1904–1909)

▌Eliodoro Villazón (1909–1913)

▌Ismael Montes (1913–1917)

▌José Gutiérrez Guerra (1917–1920)

▌Bautista Saavedra (1921–1925)

▌Felipe Segundo Guzmán (1925–1926)

▌Hernando Siles Reyes (1926–1930)

▌Carlos Blanco Galindo (1930–1931)

▌Daniel Salamanca (1931–1934)

▌José Luis Tejada Sorzano (1934–1936)

▌David Toro (1936–1937)

▌Germán Busch (1937–1939)

▌Carlos Quintanilla (1939–1940)

▌Enrique Peñaranda (1940–1943)

▌Gualberto Villarroel (1943–1946)

▌Néstor Guillén (1946)

▌Tomás Monje (1946–1947)

▌Enrique Hertzog (1947–1949)

▌Mamerto Urriolagoitía (1949–1951)

▌Hugo Ballivián (1951–1952)

▌Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1952–1956)

▌Hernán Siles Zuazo (1956–1960)

▌Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1960–1964)

▌René Barrientos (1964–1966)

▌Alfredo Ovando Candía (1966)

▌René Barrientos (1966–1969)

▌Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas (1969)

▌Alfredo Ovando Candía (1969–1970)

▌Juan José Torres (1970–1971)

▌Hugo Banzer (1971–1978)

▌Juan Pereda (1978)

▌David Padilla (1978–1979)

▌Wálter Guevara (1979)

▌Alberto Natusch (1979)

▌Lidia Gueiler Tejada (1979–1980)

▌Luis García Meza (1980–1981)

▌Celso Torrelio (1981–1982)

▌Guido Vildoso (1982)

▌Hernán Siles Zuazo (1982–1985)

▌Víctor Paz Estenssoro (1985–1989)

▌Jaime Paz Zamora (1989–1993)

▌Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (1993–1997)

▌Hugo Banzer (1997–2001)

▌Jorge Quiroga (2001–2002)

▌Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada (2002–2003)

▌Carlos Mesa (2003–2005)

▌Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (2005–2006)

▌Evo Morales (2006–2019)

▌Jeanine Áñez (2019–2020)

▌Luis Arce (2020–present)

Category
List

Offices and distinctions

Political offices
Preceded by Jorge Torrez Navarro	Minister of Social Security and Health 1976–1978	Vacant Title next held by Oscar Román Vaca
Vacant Government Junta Title last held by Celso Torrelio	President of Bolivia 1981	Succeeded by Hernán Siles Zuazo