|
|
René Barrientos Ortuño (b. May 30 1919 d. April 27 1969) was a Bolivian politician. He was born in Tarata, Bolivia. He was the co-leader of Bolivia (with Alfredo Ovando Candía) from 4 November 1964 to 27 April 1969. He was initially popular with ordinary Bolivians because of his charisma and support for organized labor, but he was also a staunch Christian and fiercely anti-Communist.
It was durning Barrientos' presidency that there was a guerilla insurgency led by Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. Barrientos was once quoted as saying that he wanted to see Guevara's head on a spike in downtown La Paz. although that never did happen, Barrientos did recieve aid in form of CIA training and armaments to combat guerilla warfare. Guevara was captured in 1967 and murdered.
Later in his presidency he cut the wages of miners and oversaw the massacre of miners at Catavi. He died as the result of a helicopter crash near Arque village in Bolivia.
| Preceded by: Alfredo Ovando Candía | President of Bolivia 1964–1965 | Succeeded by: René Barrientos Ortuño + Alfredo Ovando Candía |
| Preceded by: René Barrientos Ortuño | President of Bolivia Co-Government with Alfredo Ovando Candía 1965–1966 | Succeeded by: René Barrientos Ortuño |
| Preceded by: René Barrientos Ortuño + Alfredo Ovando Candía | President of Bolivia 1966–1969 | Succeeded by: Luis Adolfo Siles Salinas |