Authentic Revolutionary Party
Encyclopedia
The Authentic Revolutionary Party (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

: Partido Revolucionario Auténtico, PRA) was a right-wing political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

.

The Authentic Revolutionary Party (the Authentic Nationalist Revolutionary Movement
Authentic Nationalist Revolutionary Movement
The Authentic Nationalist Revolutionary Movement was a small right-wing political party in Bolivia....

, MNRA) was founded in 1959 as a faction of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is a Bolivian political party, perhaps the most important in the country during the 20th century. At the legislative elections in 2002, the party won, in an alliance with the Free Bolivia Movement, 26.9% of the popular vote and 36 out of 130 seats in the...

 (MNR), the ruling party under the presidency of Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

 by Wálter Guevara Arze
Wálter Guevara
Wálter Guevara Arze was a Bolivian statesman, cabinet minister, writer, diplomat, and, rather briefly, president .-Background and earlier career:...

, formerly a major MNR ideologist and foreign minister, who unsuccessfully opposed Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

 in the 1960 presidential election
Bolivian presidential election, 1960
Bolivia held a general election on 5 June 1960, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new National Congress.- Presidential election results :MNR – Nationalist Revolutionary Movement.PRA – Authentic Revolutionary Party....

, polling 14% of the votes.
The party was led by Guevara Arze, Jorge Ríos Gamarra and José Luis Jofre.
The Authentic Revolutionary Party adopted a reformist, nationalist position critical of what it saw as the excessive influence of left-wing labor unions in the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is a Bolivian political party, perhaps the most important in the country during the 20th century. At the legislative elections in 2002, the party won, in an alliance with the Free Bolivia Movement, 26.9% of the popular vote and 36 out of 130 seats in the...

 and in Bolivian politics generally.
By 1962, Guevara Arze had become convinced that the MNRA must establish its own identity separate from that of the MNR, so it was rechristened the Authentic Revolutionary Party – except for a small band of dissidents, who deserted Guevara Arze's leadership and retained the old name.
The PRA ran congressional candidates in 1962
Bolivian legislative election, 1962
Bolivia held a parliamentary election on 4 June 1962, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new National Congress .- Congressional Elections results :...

, but abstained from the 1964 voting
Bolivian general election, 1964
Bolivia held a general election on 31 May 1964, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new National Congress .- Presidential election results :...

 as a measure of its continued opposition to Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

.
The Authentic Revolutionary Party supported the General René Barrientos Ortuño
René Barrientos
René Barrientos Ortuño was a Bolivian politician who served as his country's Vice President in 1964 and as its President from 1964 to 1969....

 coup of 4 November, 1964, overthrowing Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

. Wálter Guevara Arze
Wálter Guevara
Wálter Guevara Arze was a Bolivian statesman, cabinet minister, writer, diplomat, and, rather briefly, president .-Background and earlier career:...

 and the PRA formally backed René Barrientos
René Barrientos
René Barrientos Ortuño was a Bolivian politician who served as his country's Vice President in 1964 and as its President from 1964 to 1969....

' presidential candidacy in 1966, and the Authentic Revolutionary Party served as part of the governing coalition of parties until 1969. Even after Barrientos' death, Guevara Arze continued as Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

's ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 under Presidents Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas
Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas
Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas was the Constitutional President of Bolivia for a period of five months between April and September 1969.-Background and early life:...

 and Alfredo Ovando Candía
Alfredo Ovando Candía
Alfredo Ovando Candía was a Bolivian president and dictator , general and political figure.- Early years :...

, until 1970.
The Authentic Revolutionary Party was in less sympathy with the Hugo Banzer Suárez
Hugo Banzer
Hugo Banzer Suárez was a politician, military general, dictator and President of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from August 22, 1971 to July 21, 1978, as a dictator; and then again from August 6, 1997 to August 7, 2001, as constitutional President.-Military and ideological...

 government and opposed that regime's continuance after 1974, when Guevara Arze was sent into exile after he criticized the Government.
In the 1978
Bolivian general election, 1978
Bolivia held a general election on 9 July 1978, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new National Congress.- Presidential election results :...

 and 1979
Bolivian general election, 1979
Bolivia held a general election on 1 July 1979, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new National Congress, 1979–1980.- Presidential election results :...

 presidential elections the Authentic Revolutionary Party supported Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

's candidacy for the presidency, with Guevara Arze as his vice-president in 1978.
In 1979 Guevara Arze was elected president of the Senate. On 8 August, 1979, when Congress could not agree on a choice of president between the two major candidates, he was appointed interim President of the Republic, pending the holding of new elections in May 1980.

He held this post for less than three months, being overthrown by Colonel Alberto Natusch Busch
Alberto Natusch
Alberto Natusch Busch was a Bolivian general and dictator of his country for a brief time in November 1979.-Background and earlier career:...

. The two weeks which followed were perhaps Guevara Arze's finest as a statesman; he vigorously opposed Alberto Natusch Busch
Alberto Natusch
Alberto Natusch Busch was a Bolivian general and dictator of his country for a brief time in November 1979.-Background and earlier career:...

 and helped rally civilian and military opposition to the colonel's ruthless rule. Alberto Natusch Busch
Alberto Natusch
Alberto Natusch Busch was a Bolivian general and dictator of his country for a brief time in November 1979.-Background and earlier career:...

 was driven from office – but political compromises were necessary which prevented Wálter Guevara Arze
Wálter Guevara
Wálter Guevara Arze was a Bolivian statesman, cabinet minister, writer, diplomat, and, rather briefly, president .-Background and earlier career:...

 from reassuming the interim presidency. That post went to Lidia Gueiler Tejada
Lidia Gueiler Tejada
Lidia Gueiler Tejada was the first female President of Bolivia, serving in an interim capacity from 1979 to 1980...

, a dissident leader of the Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left
Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left
The Revolutionary Party of the Nationalist Left was a left-wing political party in Bolivia. It was founded in 1963 by the labor leader Juan Lechín Oquendo and by Mario Torres Calleja and Edwin Moller in lesser roles...

, who had also backed Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Víctor Paz Estenssoro
Ángel Víctor Paz Estenssoro was a politician and president of Bolivia. He ran for president 8 times , winning in 1951, 1960, 1964, and 1985....

 in the 1979 general election
Bolivian general election, 1979
Bolivia held a general election on 1 July 1979, electing both a new President of the Republic and a new National Congress, 1979–1980.- Presidential election results :...

.
As interim President, Lidia Gueiler Tejada
Lidia Gueiler Tejada
Lidia Gueiler Tejada was the first female President of Bolivia, serving in an interim capacity from 1979 to 1980...

 was entrusted with the task of conducting the nation to new general elections in 1980. The Authentic Revolutionary Party has little popular following or basis for existence beyond Guevara Arze
Wálter Guevara
Wálter Guevara Arze was a Bolivian statesman, cabinet minister, writer, diplomat, and, rather briefly, president .-Background and earlier career:...

's personal ambitions and prestige, and it is chiefly useful for backstage maneuvering and coalition-building. When the party ran Wálter Guevara Arze
Wálter Guevara
Wálter Guevara Arze was a Bolivian statesman, cabinet minister, writer, diplomat, and, rather briefly, president .-Background and earlier career:...

 as its candidate on 29 June, 1980, it garnered only a 02.78% vote.

On 17 July, 1980 Lidia Gueiler Tejada
Lidia Gueiler Tejada
Lidia Gueiler Tejada was the first female President of Bolivia, serving in an interim capacity from 1979 to 1980...

 was overthrown in turn by General Luis García Meza Tejada
Luis García Meza Tejada
Luis García Meza Tejada is a former Bolivian dictator. A native of La Paz, he was a career military officer who rose to the rank of general during the reign of dictator Hugo Banzer...

.

The Authentic Revolutionary Party has had no political power in decades.
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