Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The early republic
The new Republic of Bolivia faced enormous problems from the outset. Sixteen years of
war
had devastated the country's infrastructure and economy: the mining industry in particular
was in sharp decline, thanks to scarcity of labour and the damage to the mines that had taken
place during the war. Nor did independence change much for the vast majority of the popu-
lation - the indigenous Aymara and Quechua campesinos of the highlands - who remained
excluded from power, which was exercised by a narrow ruling elite of mostly white
criol-
los
. Though the
mita
system had been abolished by Bolívar, a head tax levied on indigenous
community members was maintained, generating over half of all government income.
The country's first president,
General Sucre
, sought to organize the Bolivian state along
classic liberal lines, but his efforts to introduce a modern tax system were frustrated by the
lack of a trained bureaucracy, and he struggled to attract foreign capital to revitalize the min-
ing industry. His one major success was confiscating most of the
Catholic Church's wealth
and property, a revolutionary act from which it never really recovered. After surviving a coup
and assassination attempt, he left office in 1829 and went into voluntary exile (only to be
killed a year later in Ecuador).
Sucre's liberal and reformist policies were maintained by his successor,
General Andrés de
Santa Cruz
. During his ten-year rule Santa Cruz created a relatively stable political and eco-
nomic order, systemizing local administration and introducing modern law codes. Though he
ruled as a dictator he kept bloodshed to a minimum by contemporary standards, but was also
unable to revitalize the economy. His downfall followed his involvement in politics in neigh-
bouring Peru, where he had served briefly as president in 1826-27. In 1835 he intervened
decisively in Peru's civil war, defeating arch rival Peruvian
General Agustín Gamarra
. He
then sought to join Bolivia and Peru together in a confederation, a move seen as a threat by
Chile, which sent forces to Peru. In 1839, Santa Cruz was finally defeated by Chile, and the
Peru-Bolivia confederation was dissolved.
The rise of the
caudillos
For the next forty years Bolivia was characterized by political chaos, presided over by a
series of military strongmen (
caudillos
).
General José Ballivián
(1841-47) defeated
Gener-
al Gamarra
at the battle of Ingavi, ending the entanglement of Peru and Bolivia's affairs. He
also reduced the size of the army and established the department of the Beni, sending military
colonies to the Amazon lowlands where Cinchona bark - from which quinine is extracted -
emerged as a major export.
General Manuel Isidoro Belzu
(1848-55), who took power a
year after Ballivián was overthrown, was a populist demagogue. After surviving over forty
coup attempts in just seven years, he handed over power peacefully in 1855 in Bolivia's
first
legal elections
(although only 13,000 people were allowed to vote) and went into exile.
