Reply #9: BBC Bolivia Timeline to help put things in perspective:

[Judi Lynn]

Last Updated: Friday, 9 November 2007, 09:40 GMT

Timeline: Bolivia
A chronology of key events:

~snip~
Military coups

1952 - Peasants and miners overthrow military regime; Victor Paz Estenssoro returns from exile to become president and introduces social and economic reforms, including universal suffrage, nationalisation of tin mines and land redistribution, and improves education and the status of indigenous peoples.

1964 - Vice-President Rene Barrientos stages military coup.

1967 - US helps suppress peasant uprising led by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who is killed after being betrayed by peasants.

1969 - Vice-President Siles Salinas replaces Barrientos who is killed in plane crash, but Salinas is himself deposed by the army, which rules with increased severity.

1971 - Col Hugo Banzer Suarez comes to power after staging military coup.

1974 - Banzer postpones elections and bans political and trade union activity in the wake of an attempted coup.

1980 - General Luis Garcia stages coup after inconclusive elections; US and European countries suspend aid in view of allegations of corruption and drug trafficking.

1981 - General Celso Torrelio Villa replaces Garcia, who is forced to resign.

1982 - Torrelio resigns as the economy worsens; military junta hands over power to civilian administration led by Siles Zuazo, who heads a leftist government.

1983 - US and European countries resume aid following the introduction of austerity measures.

Democracy and economic collapse

1985 - Siles resigns in the wake of a general strike and an attempted coup; elections held but are inconclusive; parliament chooses Paz Estenssoro as president.

1986 - Twenty-one thousand miners lose their jobs following the collapse of the tin market.

1989 - Leftist Jaime Paz Zamora becomes president and enters power-sharing pact with former dictator Hugo Banzer.

1990 - Some 4 million acres of rainforest allocated to indigenous peoples.

1993 - Banzer withdraws from the presidential race, which is won by Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.

1997 - Banzer elected president.

1998 - Banzer tells the United Nations that he is committed to freeing Bolivia from drugs before the end of his term in 2002.

1999 - Encouraged by moves to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, opposition demands inquiry into Banzer's role during the repression of the 1970s.

2000 - Banzer announces the almost total eradication of the coca plant in the Chapare jungle region.

2001 January - Government declares almost half of Bolivia a natural disaster area following heavy rains.


Banzer dies

2001 8 August - Vice-President Jorge Quiroga sworn in as president, replacing Hugo Banzer who is suffering from cancer. He dies in May 2002.

2001 December - Farmers reject a government offer of $900 each a year in exchange for the eradication of the coca crop used to produce cocaine.

2002 August - Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada wins a clear victory in a National Congress run-off vote and becomes president for a second time. His rival, coca growers' representative Evo Morales, leads a strengthened opposition.

2003 February - More than 30 killed in violent protests against proposed income tax. President Sanchez de Lozada withdraws the proposal.

2003 September-October - 80 killed, hundreds injured in protests fuelled by government plans to export natural gas via Chile. President Sanchez de Lozada resigns under pressure of protests and is succeeded by Carlos Mesa.

Energy protests

2004 April - President Mesa signs natural gas export deal with Argentina. Opponents say deal pre-empts referendum on gas exports planned for July. Protesters take to streets, demand president's resignation.

2004 July - Referendum on gas exports: Voters back greater state involvement in the industry and approve exports of the resource.

2004 August - Landmark deal signed to allow Bolivia to export gas via a Peruvian port.

2005 January - Rising fuel prices trigger large-scale anti-government protests and blockades in Santa Cruz, the country's largest and wealthiest city, and in El Alto, near La Paz.

Civic and business leaders in Santa Cruz push for autonomy for the province.

2005 March - President Mesa submits his resignation, blaming protests which he says have made it impossible to govern. Congress rejects the offer, as well as a later request by the president for early elections, and Mr Mesa remains in office.

2005 May - Protests over energy resources bring La Paz, and government business, to a near standstill. President Mesa promises a rewritten constitution and a referendum on autonomy demands from resource-rich provinces.

Socialists in power

2005 June - As angry street protests continue, President Mesa resigns. Supreme Court head Eduardo Rodriguez is sworn in as caretaker president.

2005 December - Socialist leader Evo Morales wins presidential elections. He becomes the first indigenous Bolivian to take office.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1218814.stm