Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario

The Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) is the party of the 1952 Bolivian Revolution and continues to be a major national political party in Bolivia today.

Formation of the MNR
At its founding, the MNR was one of three revolutionary parties (the other two were the Partido de la Izquierda Revolucionaria, PIR, and the Trotskyite Partido Obrero Revolucionario, POR). The PIR and POR housed more radical elements, whereas the MNR was founded in the early 1940s by moderates "which took a strong prolabor and antigovernment position."


 * "Though the PIR, POR, and MNR were all prolabor, their respective international sympathies prevented their initial coalition into a revolutionary force. The MNR contained both fascist and moderate socialist wings, and, while the war lasted in Europe, it was deeply committed to the German effort."

The U.S. and the MNR
In 1937, Bolivia's President David Toro nationalized Standard Oil, which soured relations with the U.S. "Many of the men who later founded and led the MNR were among the sponsors and supporters of the Standard Oil seizure." Victor Paz Estenssoro was Toro's undersecretary of the treasury. "The future leaders of the MNR charged that Standard Oil's demand for compensation of its losses was actually an attempt to recover possession of its oil rights and propoerties, and they signed a manifesto in July 1941 opposing as inadmissable and intolerable any change in the disposition of the case."

The U.S., meanwhile, needed a good relationship with Bolivia as it needed a source of tin during World War II. By the summer of 1941, both governments were seeking a resolution to the Standard Oil matter. A phony Nazi plot to overthrow the Bolivian government was "discovered." Declaring a state of siege, the Bolivian government then shut down the daily publication La Calle, published by three leaders of the MNR, who were arrested. The government then accused the MNR of fascism. With the MNR leaders out of the way, Bolivia found it easier to settle the Standard Oil issue. The Bolivian government reached an agreement with Standard Oil on January 27, 1942, and the U.S. announced a $25 million economic development program for Bolivia the next day.

1943 Coalition Government
A "strongly fascist-oriented and sympathetic to moderate social reforms" group of former prisoners of war emerged as the Razon de Patria (RADEPA) party, which formed a coalition government with the MNR in December 1943. Their government was led by Col. Gualberto Villarroel, and it promised major reforms. Under this government, future MNR president Victor Paz Estenssoro became Minister of Finance. However, the U.S. refused to recognize the government over fears of Nazi influence in the MNR. "In a confidential document to other governments, the United States charged the MNR with anti-Semitism, hostility to democracy, fascism-oriented programs, connections with Nazi groups in Germany and Argentina, and Axis financial support. Although Nazi ideas had influenced some MNR leaders and their military associates, an examination of the historical record indicates that many of these charges were misleading, exaggerated, or false." It was only in June 1944, two months after the MNR cabinet members resigned, that the U.S. finally recognized the Villarroel government. This government ended in a 1946 popular revolt led by the PIR, joined with the traditional parties.

MNR's 1946-1952 Transformation
During the next six years, the MNR changed. It rid itself of its fascist elements, and after a brief attempt to court support from the officer corps, instead incoroporated the working class movement. As it already had sympathy from the powerful miners' unions, it attempted to gain support from industrial unions in La Paz as well. "Finding the POR already in control of the miners' FSTMB [national miners federation], it simply co-opted these leaders into the party... The result was an unusual amalgam of the middle class and radical labor into a decidedly left position." With its new base, the MNR led "an almost totally civilian and workers' revolt against the central regime" in the summer of 1949, "a revolt which would prove a model for the 1952 overthrow." During the 1949 revolt, the army remained loyal to the government.

As its support grew, the MNR decided to attempt a peaceful takeover of the government, nominating Victor Paz Estenssoro and Hernan Siles Zuazo as president and vice president in February 1951. The MNR candidates won the most support in the election, but as the vote was a plurality, it was to be decided in Congress. To prevent the MNR from taking power, the army intervened with the consent of then-president Mamerto Urriolagoitia, who, on May 16, stepped down from office. His chief of staff, Gen. Ovidio Quiroga, then announced a military junta would rule the country, under the leadership of Gen. Hugo Ballivian. The MNR's electoral victory would later give its 1952 revolution legitimacy.

Related Sourcewatch Articles

 * 1952 Bolivian Revolution
 * U.S. Agricultural Assistance to Bolivia
 * Bohan Plan
 * Victor Paz Estenssoro

External Resources

 * Herbert S. Klein, “Prelude to the Revolution.” In Beyond the Revolution: Bolivia Since 1952. James M. Malloy and Richard S. Thorn, eds, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1971.