René Barrientos

René Barrientos Ortuño ( May 30, 1919 in Tarata *, † April 27, 1969 in Cochabamba ) was a Bolivian politician and General. Barrientos was from November 4, 1964 to 5 January 1966, from August 6, 1966 to April 27, 1969 President of Bolivia and was killed in a helicopter crash.

Rise in military

René Barrientos Ortuño was the son of a poor farmer from a valley of the Andes plateau. After completing his secondary education, the Escuela Fiscal in Cochabamba, he was a cadet pilot schools and later attended the Bolivian army. Parts of pilot training and further military training completed Barrientos in Italy and in the USA. He proved to be a good pilot and parachutist.

Was funded Barrientos, who rose in only seven years, 1952-1959, by Lieutenant General in the Air Force, from Víctor Paz Estenssoro Bolivian president. During the revolution of 1952 Paz Estenssoro Barrientos served as personal pilot. The President built with the help of the United States, the Bolivian military scratch. Benefited Barrientos. The stages of his career ladder were: commander of an air base, air force attachés his country in London, commander of a flyer cadet school, head of military air transportation, head of procurement of the Air Force, a lecturer at the General Staff School, Chief of the General Staff of the Air Force and eventually their commander in chief.

Political beginnings

Barrientos was funded by the U.S. government. This is said to have deliberately brought it to the President, to limit its classified as a left -heavy policy. Against the will of the state party MNR, whose member was Barrientos, the military put him in 1964 by the Deputy President.

When it came to violent demonstrations against President Paz Estenssoro in 1964, located Barrientos joined the military coup against his erstwhile supporters. The President then fled to Peru. First Alfredo Ovando Candia took over the leadership of a military junta. After further demonstrations Ovando resigned. On November 5, 1964 Barrientos became chairman of the junta. At the beginning of 1966 he gave up this post to stand as a candidate in the presidential elections. Ovando took over temporarily the lead again.

Presidency

René Barrientos Ortuño was elected with about 60 % of the vote on July 4, 1966. During his tenure, he broke the resistance of the miners' union partly by force. Some mining districts he had occupied by the army. He had also incurred the displeasure of the miners' union, as he had cut wages and fought the political patronage in the state's mining operations. For Bolivian conditions a phase of ( forced ) followed by peace and stability.

The 1969 made ​​by Barrientos attempt to call a mass political movement to support him in life, remained without a thorough success. He sat Víctor Paz Estenssoro similar to a more left-wing politics and was based not least on the Indian population. In order to insure their support, he traveled through the country.

International René Barrientos Ortuño 's government was noted when she was ordered in 1967 Régis Debray. On October 9, 1967 at 13:10 clock the recently captured Che Guevara was executed on the spot by Mario Terán, a sergeant in the Bolivian army, under the direction of Barrientos without trial.

René Barrientos Ortuño in 1969 in the crash of a helicopter controlled by himself killed.