MNR

In 1941, Víctor Paz Estenssoro, Hernán Siles Zuazo, Walter Guevara Arze, and Augusto Céspedes, and others founded the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR). The party is said to be the most important party in Bolivia given it push for universal suffrage, mining nationalization, land reform, and the revolution of 1952. The revolution of 1952 was the military’s annulment of the presidential elections of 1951. The revolution consisted of militant miners leading armed workers and joining with supporting national police and MNRistas for an urban insurrection of three days. 

In 1954 one sees that the MNR controlled the military, the police, and the civilian militia. MNR leans toward the left, yet its government influence is dominantly from the the party’s moderate wing. The MNR hosted an initiative to expand and diversify Bolivia’s economy and nationalize tin exports. Such initiative, and party formation originated from the deprived population, most notably the middle class following the Chaco War. MNR governments had multi-class support, but inflation and declining productivity in the fall sector held back economic grown.

MNR was a school of thought that began to analyze the relationships from the power struggle of the Chaco War and its transformations. Moreover, it brought upon a socioeconomic modification of the country through a variety of reforms: from nationalization of mines, diversification of production, agrarian reform, to territorial integration. This event also carried over unto the entrance of whole concentration of individuals in the electoral system. In turn, the through the consideration of this party one not only has an understanding of the rise of nationalism in Bolivia but of its effect in all levels of the country.

Works Cited

“.” Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. . Encyclopedia.com. 16 Apr. 2021 .” Encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com, May 1, 2021. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/nationalist-revolutionary-movement-mnr. 

Kästle, Klaus. “History of Bolivia.” History of Bolivia – Key Figures in Bolivia’s history. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Bolivia-history.htm. 

“The Enduring Legacy of Bolivia’s Forgotten National Revolution.” NACLA. Accessed May 1, 2021. https://nacla.org/blog/2013/4/13/enduring-legacy-bolivia%25E2%2580%2599s-forgotten-national-revolution. 

Vila De Prado, Roberto. “Popular Revolutionary Nationalism in Bolivia (Ideological Formations and Transformations, 1930 – 1955).” Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (Santa Cruz de la Sierra). Universidad Autónoma “Gabriel René Moreno”. Accessed May 1, 2021. http://socialsciences.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1819-05452006000100001.