Villazón, Eliodoro (1848–1940)

Eliodoro Villazón (b. 22 January 1848; d. 14 September 1940), president of Bolivia (1909–1913). Born in Sacaba in the department of Cochabamba, Villazón was trained as a lawyer. He entered politics and became deputy from Cochabamba to the Assembly of 1871 when he was only twenty-three years old. At the National Convention of 1880 he caught the attention of Narciso Campero, the recently installed president (1880–1884). Under Campero, Villazón was appointed minister of finance and later financial agent in Europe. After returning from abroad, Villazón joined the Liberal Party and became one of its most loyal members. When the Liberals came to power after the Federal War of 1898, Villazón became minister of foreign affairs. In 1909 the leader of the Liberals, Ismael Montes, who had been president from 1904 to 1908, selected Villazón to be the party's presidential candidate in a special election made necessary by the death of Montes's successor. Elected overwhelmingly, Villazón, as caretaker for Montes, continued government support for railroad construction and successfully negotiated loans with Europeans that led to the formation of the Banco de la Nación.

See alsoCampero, Narciso; Montes, Ishmael.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

William Belmont Parker, Bolivians of Today, 2nd ed. (1922), pp. 317-320.

Herbert S. Klein, Parties and Political Change in Bolivia, 1880–1952 (1969), pp. 43-44.

                                    Erwin P. Grieshaber