Patriotic Agreement (AP)

In August 1989 General Hugo Banzer Suárez's Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN) and Jaime Paz Zamora's Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR) established the Acuerdo Patriótico (AP). Essentially a gentleman's agreement between both men, the pact served both to end an impasse in the Congress between the three top vote getters in the May 1989 elections and to elect Paz Zamora as president of Bolivia. Paz Zamora and Banzer signed no documents, arguing that they would prove that their word could be trusted. Despite the rather unholy nature of the alliance between two erstwhile enemies—Paz Zamora was imprisoned during Banzer's seven-year dictatorship in the 1970s—the AP held office for four years. A bipartisan council (Consejo Político del Acuerdo Patriótico) headed by General Banzer was established to sort out relations between the ADN and the MIR. As part of the original agreement, Luis Ossio Sanjinés, the ADN's vice-presidential candidate in May 1989, was named vice president of the country. In December 1989 and December 1991, the AP, now a political party, ran a single slate of candidates for municipal elections; General Banzer ran as the party's candidate for the 1993 general elections. Following Banzer's defeat at the polls, the AP ended rather unceremoniously in August 1993.

See alsoBolivia, Political Parties: Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR); Bolivia, Political Parties: Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Eduardo A. Gamarra, "Crafting Political Support for Stabilization: Political Pacts and the New Economic Policy in Brazil," in Democracy, Markets, and Structural Reform in Latin America, edited by William C. Smith, Carlos H. Acuña, and Eduardo A. Gamarra (1994), and "Market-Oriented Reforms and Democratization in Bolivia," in A Precarious Balance, edited by Joan M. Nelson, vol. 2 (1994).

Additional Bibliography

Mayorga, Fernando. Neopopulismo y democracia: Compadres y padrinos en la política boliviana (1988–1999). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Centro de Estudios Superiores Universitarios: Centro de Planificación y Gestión; La Paz, Bolivia: Plural Editores, 2002.

Soria Saravia, Margot. Democracia e izquierda en Bolivia: La compleja alianza entre la izquierda y la derecha. La Paz, Bolivia: s.n., 2002.

                                                       Eduardo A. Gamarra