Enrique Peñaranda del Castillo (born in
La PazLa Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. Located at an elevation of , it is the world's highest capital city. La Paz sits in a bowl surrounded by the high altiplano. As it grows, La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying...
,
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
, on November 15, 1892; died in
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, on December 22, 1969) was a
BolivianBolivian may refer to:* Something of, or related to Bolivia* A person from Bolivia, or of Bolivian descent. For information about the Bolivian people, see Demographics of Bolivia and Culture of Bolivia. For specific Bolivians, see List of Bolivians....
general who served as commander of his country's forces during the second half of the
Chaco WarThe Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil...
(1932-1935). He was later elected President of Bolivia in 1940, serving in that capacity until being overthrown in 1943.
Peñaranda was born into a politically influential family–to a family of Aymara heritage–to an Indian father and a Mestizo mother.
Enrique Peñaranda del Castillo (born in
La PazLa Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of La Paz Department. Located at an elevation of , it is the world's highest capital city. La Paz sits in a bowl surrounded by the high altiplano. As it grows, La Paz climbs the hills, resulting in varying...
,
BoliviaBolivia, officially Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, and Chile and Peru to the west....
, on November 15, 1892; died in
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, on December 22, 1969) was a
BolivianBolivian may refer to:* Something of, or related to Bolivia* A person from Bolivia, or of Bolivian descent. For information about the Bolivian people, see Demographics of Bolivia and Culture of Bolivia. For specific Bolivians, see List of Bolivians....
general who served as commander of his country's forces during the second half of the
Chaco WarThe Chaco War was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region of South America, which was incorrectly thought to be rich in oil...
(1932-1935). He was later elected President of Bolivia in 1940, serving in that capacity until being overthrown in 1943.
Peñaranda was born into a politically influential family–to a family of Aymara heritage–to an Indian father and a Mestizo mother. Peñaranda's cousin, Nestor Peñaranda, was a well-known Methodist Evangalical missionary who worked among the Indians of La Paz.
Peñaranda's performance in the Chaco War is debatable and controversial. Hailed as a hero for breaking the deadly Paraguayan siege in the Battle of Campo Via (a claim probably exaggerated by the government of Daniel Salamanca to distract attention from the devastating Bolivian loss in that battle), he took over as Bolivia's top general upon the December, 1933 demotion of the German General Hans Kundt. As Commander of the Army, Peñaranda continuously clashed with the elderly and demanding Constitutional President Daniel Salamanca (1931-34), who understandably was not very happy with the military's performance in the war. Further disagreements ensued over the issue of appointments and promotions, Peñaranda believing that this was a purely internal military matter and the President insisting that it was part of his mandate as Commander in Chief. In November 1934, Salamanca decided to replace Peñaranda with a new military commander, sparking a coup d'état led by General Peñaranda, Colonel
David ToroJosé David Toro Ruilova was a former colonel in the Bolivian army and member of the High Command during the Chaco War...
, and Major
Germán BuschGermán Busch Becerra was a former Bolivian military officer, hero of the Chaco War , and president of Bolivia between 1937 and 1939.Germán Busch was born in San Javier, in central Bolivia's hot, fertile, coffee-growing region to a physician, a German...
, all future presidents of Bolivia. Because the country was still at war, the military agreed to acquiesce to the swearing-in of Vice-President
José Luis TejadaJosé Luis Tejada Sorzano was installed by the military as president of Bolivia during the Chaco War...
.
After the war, Peñaranda's star seemed to dim a bit, as his younger and more left-leaning fellow officers took over the government under Toro and Busch (1936-39) in the so-called Military-Socialist experiment. Interestingly, Peñaranda's experience dealing with Republican Party civilian politicians during his tenure as Commander of the Army seems to have made him more amenable to compromise with the old-style parties than the younger, more impetuous officers like Busch. Following Busch's suicide in 1939, conservative forces re-asserted themselves and, fearful of the growing power of new reformist parties committed to dismantle the existing order, decided to unite under one candidate in a pact called the Concordancia. The Concordancia proclaimed General Peñaranda (a war hero, after all) as its candidate, and he was elected at the polls.
The Peñaranda government wad difficult and marred by repression. The President did not enjoy the benefit of a congressional majority, and was mistrusted by many in his own coalition, not to mention the gathering forces of the reformist left. Economic conditions continued to deteriorate, prompting a number of crippling strikes that, in turn, led to the proclamation of extra-constitutional means to restore order. A massacre of discontented miners at Catavi in 1942 further tarnished the Peñaranda administration. On the international front, the general drew close to the American position in World War II, accepting military missions and aid in exchange for unconditional support for the Allied effort. But the spiraling domestic situation proved difficult to control, despite the government's popularity with Washington, and Peñaranda was overthrown in 1943 by a coup led by reformist, younger military officers under Major
Gualberto VillarroelGualberto Villarroel López was the head of state of Bolivia from December 20, 1943 to July 21, 1946. A reformist, he is nonetheless remembered for his alleged fascist sympathies, and is sometimes compared with Argentina's Juan Domingo Perón...
. It was, in essence, a movement of the pendulum back to the status quo of Toro and Busch, and a setback to conservative forces.
Enrique Peñaranda at that point headed for a long life in exile and never participated in Bolivian politics again. He died in Madrid, Spain, on December 22, 1969.