Revolutionary Left Front (Bolivia)

Last updated
Revolutionary Left Front
Frente Revolucionario de Izquierda
ChairpersonEdgar Guzmán Jáuregui
Vice ChairpersonVíctor Hugo Landivar
Secretary-GeneralWálter Villagra Romay
FoundedApril 23, 1978 (1978-04-23)
Ideology Social democracy
Progressivism
Third Way
Formerly
Communism
Marxism-Leninism
Left-wing nationalism
Political position Centre-left to left-wing
Formerly
Far-left
ColorsBlue, red
Chamber of Deputies
4 / 130
[1]
Senate of Bolivia
0 / 36

The Revolutionary Left Front (Spanish : Frente Revolucionario de Izquierda, abbreviated FRI) is a political party in Bolivia, founded in 1978.

Contents

Foundation

FRI was formed at a national conference of leftwing forces, held in La Paz April 23, 1978. The meeting was organized by an initiative committee (led by Dr. Guido Perales Aguilar as permanent secretary). The founding of FRI in April 1978 was a formalization of an already existing informal cooperation between different political groups. FRI was composed of the Communist Party of Bolivia (Marxist–Leninist) (PCB(ML)), Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left (PRIN), Revolutionary Party of the Workers of Bolivia (PRTB), POR-Combate, Vanguardia Comunista del POR (the latter two were Trotskyist groups) and an independent grouping led by Manuel Morales Dávila. [2] [3] [4] [5] POR-Masas was blocked from joining FRI. [2] Óscar Zamora Medinaceli was the founding chairman of FRI, [6] and politically FRI was under the control of PCB(ML). [2] Lidia Gueiler Tejada was the vice president of FRI. [4]

The declaration of principles of FRI reads that "FRI is the political instrument of the masses, which enables the accumulation of forces in order to defeat the dictatorship, impose democratic freedoms and achieve national liberation." [2]

1978 and 1979 elections

The presidential candidate of FRI in the 1978 elections was Casiano Amurrio. Amurrio obtained 23,459 votes (1.2% of the national vote). In the parliamentary elections the FRI obtained the same result. [7]

PRIN left FRI ahead of the 1979 elections, and joined UDP. [8] Morales Dávila also broke away from FRI. FRI became little more than the public facade of PCB(ML), as other factions had deserted it. The group sought to merge with UDP, but failed. [2] In the 1979 elections FRI was part of a larger coalition, the Democratic Alliance (along with the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement, the Christian Democratic Party and Wálter Guevara's PRA). [9] Lidia Gueiler was the vice-presidential candidate of the alliance. [10] The FRI won 5 seats.

Later period

In the parliamentary elections of 1980 and 1985, it ran in alliance with the conservative MNR winning each time three seats. In 1989 and 1993 elections, FRI was part of the Patriotic Accord (the electoral pact between Hugo Banzer's Nationalist Democratic Action and the Revolutionary Left Movement) winning four and two seats respectively. [11] In 1997 it won one seat on a list of the MIR.

On October 6, 2018, Carlos de Mesa Gisbert announced on his YouTube channel, that he would run for president under the Revolutionary Left Front party, almost one year before the 2019 Bolivian general election. [12] In the 2020 election, FRI once again supported Mesa and elected three Deputies, returning to Parliament. [13]

Municipal and regional politics

Electoral flyer for the FRI candidate for mayor of La Paz in 1999, Eusebio Gironda Flyer of Frente Revolucionario de Izquierda for La Paz mayoral election 1999.PNG
Electoral flyer for the FRI candidate for mayor of La Paz in 1999, Eusebio Gironda

During the 1990s, the intervention in municipal politics of the party was generally limited to the Tarija and Cochabamba departments. [14] The FRI chairman Zamora Medinaceli was mayor of Tarija in 1987–1989, 1994–1996 and 1996–1997. [6] In the 1991 municipal elections, the party got 20,179 votes (1.55% of the nationwide vote), whilst in the 1993 municipal election it obtained 25,099 votes (2.24%). [15] In the 1991 municipal elections, the party had the highest percentage of female candidates in the major cities amongst all contesting parties (8 out of 36 candidates, 22.2%). [16] In 1993 eleven out of 52 FRI candidates were women. [16] In the 1995 municipal elections, the vote of the party reached 53,540 (3.12%). [17] The party won 27 municipal council seats (out of 1585 in all of Bolivia). [18] The party won 17 municipal council seats (out of a total of 1,700 in all of Bolivia) in the 1999 municipal elections. [19]

The party supported the candidature of Mario Cossío  [ es; ko ] for governor of Tarija in the 2010 elections. [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Bolivia</span> Political system of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state, head of government and head of a diverse multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. Both the Judiciary and the electoral branch are independent of the executive and the legislature. After the 2014 Bolivian general election, 53.1% of the seats in national parliament were held by women, a higher proportion of women than that of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolutionary Nationalist Movement</span> Political party in Bolivia

The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is now a centre-right, conservative political party in Bolivia. It was the leading force behind the Bolivian National Revolution from 1952 to 1964. It influenced much of the country's history since 1941.

The Communist Party of Bolivia (Marxist–Leninist) was a political party in Bolivia. PCB (ML) emerged as a pro-People's Republic of China splinter group of the Communist Party of Bolivia in 1965. PCB (ML) was led by Óscar Zamora Medinaceli.

Dieter Roth is Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Bolivian general election</span>

General elections were held in Bolivia on December 6, 2009, following a constitutional referendum held on 25 January 2009. The election was initially expected to be held in 2010. Voters elected:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Bolivian regional elections</span>

The 2010 Bolivian regional elections were held on 4 April 2010. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 5 million people. Among the officials elected are:

Óscar Salas Moya was a Bolivian politician and trade unionist. A miner by profession, Salas Moya was a key leader of the Communist Party of Bolivia and a leader of the Huanuni miners union. The position of Salas Moya, then belonging to a younger generation in the party leadership, was strengthened in 1964, after the party had been deserted by Pimentel and Escóbar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Untoja</span> Bolivia politician

Fernando Untoja Choque is a Bolivian politician. An economist and political scientist, Untoja served as lecturer at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, the Universidad Técnica de Oruro, the Military Engineering School (EMI) and the Army Military College "Gualberto Villarroel". Furthermore, he was a researcher at the Centro Andino de Desarollo Agropecuario. As a writer and political theorist, Untoja is one of the most prominent proponents of the thesis of a 'return to the ayllu'. 'The return to the ayllu' is also the title of a book written by Untoja.

Óscar Daniel Zamora Medinaceli was a Bolivian politician and lawyer. A communist student activist in his youth and leader of a failed Maoist insurgency in the 1970s, Zamora Medinaceli went on to become a senator, minister, mayor, ambassador and prefect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Bolivian municipal elections</span>

Municipal elections were held in Bolivia in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Bolivian municipal elections</span>

Municipal elections were held in Bolivia, on December 5, 1999, in all 311 municipalities across the country. The elections marked a milestone in the continuous deterioration of the political influence of the traditional parties. In 23 municipalities the mayors were elected through direct popular vote, in other municipalities the mayors were elected by the respective municipal council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1980 Bolivian general election</span>

General elections were held in Bolivia on 29 June 1980, the third in three years. As no candidate in the presidential elections received a majority of the vote, the National Congress was required to elect a President on 6 August. With Hernán Siles Zuazo of the Democratic and Popular Union the favourite to win the Congressional ballot, the process was disrupted on 17 July by the military coup led by General Luis García Meza Tejada. However, Meza was pressured to resign on 4 August 1981, resulting in General Celso Torrelio becoming president. In July 1982 he was replaced by General Guido Vildoso, who was named by the high command to return the country to democratic rule. On 17 September 1982, during a general strike that brought the country close to civil war, the military decided to step down, to reconvene the National Congress elected in 1980, and to accept its choice of president. Accordingly, the National Congress revalidated the 1980 election results on 23 September and overwhelmingly elected Hernán Siles Zuazo as president on 5 October. He subsequently assumed the presidency on 10 October 1982.

The Revolutionary Party of the National Left – Gueiler was a small centrist political party in Bolivia.

The Bolivian National Congress 1979–1980 was elected on 1 July 1979.

Wilfried Loth is a German historian and political scientist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civic Community</span> Bolivian political coalition

Civic Community is a liberal Bolivian political coalition led by former president Carlos Mesa, founded in 2018 to contest the 2019 general election. It was born of the alliance of Revolutionary Left Front (FRI), Sovereignty and Freedom (Sol.Bo), All Organization, and Kochala Force parties. The alliance holds Mesa's presidential candidacy, with former minister Gustavo Pedraza as his running mate. The CC elected 50 deputies and 14 senators in the country's Plurinational Legislative Assembly in the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Víctor Hugo Zamora</span> Bolivian politician (born 1970)

Víctor Hugo Zamora Castedo, often referred to as Ojorico, is a Bolivian forestry engineer, politician, and former student leader who served as minister of hydrocarbons from 2019 to 2020. As a member of United to Renew, of which he was president, he previously served as senator for Tarija from 2015 to 2019 in alliance with the Christian Democratic Party. Before that, he served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from Tarija, representing circumscription 45 from 2010 to 2014 on behalf of the National Convergence alliance. Prior to entering politics, Zamora was active in student unionism and was the chair of the Bolivian University Confederation as well as his Local University Federation. Though unsuccessful in his first electoral bid, Zamora was later given the opportunity to work in the Tarija Prefecture, and in 2004, he was invited by the Revolutionary Left Movement to contest a seat on the Tarija Municipal Council, where he served from 2005 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Bolivian regional elections</span> Departmental and municipal elections in Bolivia

The 2021 Bolivian regional elections were held on 7 March 2021. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 7 million people. This was the third regional election under the 2009 constitution. It was postponed from the expected date of 2020 due to the 2019 Bolivian political crisis and delays in holding the 2020 Bolivian general election. All elected authorities assumed office on 3 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodrigo Paz Pereira</span> Bolivian Senator for Tarija (2020–present)

Rodrigo Paz Pereira is a Bolivian politician serving as senator for Tarija since 2020. A member of Civic Community, he has been the leader of the First the People civic group —the alliance's primary partner in Tarija— since 2019. As a member of United to Renew, he previously served as mayor of Tarija from 2015 to 2020 and as president of the Tarija Municipal Council from 2010 to 2015. Prior to that, he served as a uninominal member of the Chamber of Deputies from Tarija representing circumscription 46 from 2005 to 2010 and circumscription 49 from 2002 to 2006, on behalf of the Revolutionary Left Movement, the party of his father, former president Jaime Paz Zamora.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Paputsakis</span> Bolivian politician (born 1986)

Diana Patricia Paputsakis Burgos is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and former student leader who served as secretary of women and family of Tarija from 2015 to 2019. Prior to her service in the municipal government, Paputsakis served as a substitute member Chamber of Deputies from Tarija, representing circumscription 45 under Víctor Hugo Zamora from 2010 to 2014 on behalf of the National Convergence alliance. In the 2019 general election, Paputsakis was elected to represent Tarija's circumscription 40 on behalf of Civic Community, but never took office, owing to the annulment of the electoral results and the coalition's decision not to re-nominate her in 2020. Paputsakis later contested the 2021 Tarija mayoral election, finishing sixth in the polls.

References

  1. ↑ "Los 130 nuevos diputados uninominales, plurinominales y de circunscripciones especiales".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 POR-Masas. F
  3. ↑ Alexander, Robert J.. Trotskyism in Bolivia
  4. 1 2 Crespo Rodas, Alfonso. Lydia: una mujer en la historia . La Paz: Plural Ed, 1999. p. 121
  5. ↑ Mega: siglo XXI : diccionario enciclopédico . [Colombia]: Grupo Editorial Norma, 2004. p. 435
  6. 1 2 Directorio: 1997 - 2002. La Paz: Centro de Investigación del Congreso Nacional (CICON), 2002. p. 50
  7. ↑ Nohlen, Dieter. Elections in the Americas: A Data Handbook 2 South America . Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. p. 150
  8. ↑ Nohlen, Dieter. Elections in the Americas: A Data Handbook 2 South America . Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. p. 139
  9. ↑ Alcántara Sáez, Manuel. Partidos políticos de América Latina - Países Andinos . Salamanca: Ed. Univ. de Salamanca, 2001. 94
  10. ↑ Dunkerley, James, and Rose Marie Vargas Jastram. Rebelión en las venas: la lucha política en Bolivia . La Paz, Bolivia: Plural, 2003. pp. 314, 329
  11. ↑ Alcántara Sáez, Manuel. Partidos políticos de América Latina - Países Andinos . Salamanca: Ed. Univ. de Salamanca, 2001. 101
  12. ↑ "Carlos Mesa va por la presidencia y el MAS aviva su pasado con el MNR". Los Tiempos. October 7, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Los 130 nuevos diputados uninominales, plurinominales y de circunscripciones especiales". www.paginasiete.bo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-09.
  14. ↑ Jost, Stefan. Bolivien: politisches System und Reformprozess 1993 - 1997 . Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 2003. p. 273
  15. ↑ Jost, Stefan. Bolivien: politisches System und Reformprozess 1993 - 1997 . Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 2003. p. 405
  16. 1 2 Latin American Social Sciences Institute. PARTIDOS POLÍTICOS ('Political Parties'), part of the study Mujeres Latinoamericanas en Cifras ('Latin American Women in Numbers'), published in 1994.
  17. ↑ Jost, Stefan. Bolivien: politisches System und Reformprozess 1993 - 1997 . Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 2003. p. 406
  18. ↑ Jost, Stefan. Bolivien: politisches System und Reformprozess 1993 - 1997 . Opladen: Leske und Budrich, 2003. p. 407
  19. ↑ Albó, Xavier, and Victor Quispe. Quiénes son indígenas en los gobiernos municipales. Cuadernos de investigación CIPCA, 59. La Paz: CIPCA [u.a., 2004. p. 92
  20. ↑ CEDIB. La Ley Anticorrupción bloqueará candidaturas (El País 11/02/2010)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.