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Biography of René Barrientos OrtuñoName: René Barrientos OrtuñoBirth Date: May 30, 1919 Death Date: April 27, 1969 Place of Birth: Tunary, Bolivia Nationality: Bolivian Gender: Male Occupations: president René Barrientos Ortuño René Barrientos Ortuñ (1919-1969), populist Bolivian president from 1966 to 1969, identified himself with the forgotten Indian masses, allied Bolivia closely with the United States, crushed Che Guevara's guerrillas, and was killed in a mysterious helicopter crash.René Barrientos Ortuño was born at Tunary, a village near Bolivia's second city, Cochabamba, on May 30, 1919. His father was of Spanish ancestry and his mother was Indian, and she ensured that her son's first language was Quechua, which would later endear him to a huge Indian constituency. Following the death of his father when he was very young, he was sent to a Franciscan orphanage, striking out when he was 12 and putting himself through a private high school by working odd jobs. Upon graduation, he entered the military academy in La Paz.Before he could graduate, however, he was bitten by the political bug and was expelled for activism. He supported …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…failed, disappointing more.On April 27, 1969, again visiting his beloved interior, Barrientos was killed when the helicopter he was piloting hit a power line near Cochabamba. There is still considerable suspicion in Bolivia and elsewhere that the crash was not an accident but an assassination. Barrientos is still remembered fondly by many rural Bolivians as the president who cared. Further Reading There does not yet exist a biography of Barrientos, but a great deal of information on the man, his times, and his nation can be found in the following books: Dwight B. Heath, et al., Land Reform and Social Revolution in Bolivia (1969); James W. Wilkie, The Bolivian Revolution and United States Aid Since (1969); James M. Malloy and Richard S. Thorn, Beyond the Revolution: Bolivia Since 1952 (1971); Christopher Mitchell, The Legacy of Populism in Bolivia, from the MNR to Military Rule (1977); and Herbert S. Klein, Bolivia: The Evolution of a Multi-Ethnic Society (1982). |