Bolivia Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Republic of Bolivia

Type republic

Capital: La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital and seat of judiciary)

Political subdivisions: nine departments with limited autonomy

Legal system: based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; constitution adopted 1967; constitution in force except where contrary to dispositions dictated by governments since 1969; legal education at University of San Andres and several others; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 6 August

Branches: executive; bicameral legislature (National Congress—Senate and Chamber of Deputies); Congress began meeting again in October 1982; judiciary

Government leader: Victor PAZ Estenssoro, President (since August 1985)

Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18 if married, 21 if single

Elections: presidential elections on 14 July 1985 did not produce the required majority for any of the three leading candidates;

Victor Paz Estenssoro, center-left leader of the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR), placed second in the popular vote to center-right Hugo Banzer, head of the Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN); however, the MNR won 94 congressional seats compared to the ADN’s 51, as a result, the Bolivian Congress on 5 August chose Paz Estenssoro to head the government; he was inaugurated on 6 August

Political parties and leaders: the two parties which garnered the most votes in the 1985 elections, the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR) and the Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN), continue to have a

tactical alliance; MNR, Victor Paz Estenssoro; ADN, Hugo Banzer; Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR), Jaime Paz Zamora; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement of the Left (MNRI), Hernan Siles Zuazo; Bolivian Socialist Falange (FSB), Mario Gutierrez; Authentic Revolutionary Party (PRA), Walter Guevara; Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Benjamin Miguel; Nationalist Revolutionary Party of the Left, Juan Lechin Oquendo

Voting strength: (1985 election) ADN 28.11%, MNR 26.66%; MIR 8.86%

Member of: FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—InterAmerican Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, LAIA and Andean Sub-Regional Group (created in May 1969 within LAIA, formerly LAFTA), NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Bolivia on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Bolivia 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Bolivia 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.