This is a useful descriptive account of the political process in Bolivia, focusing on the period from the overthrow of Paz Estenssoro in November 1964 to his return to power in August 1985. The study outlines the political-economic structures, the policies and strategies adopted by (mostly) military and civilian regimes, and their impact on the legacy of the revolution of 1952. The authors provide a multitiered analysis, examining state formation, regime changes, and sociopolitical movements in civil society. Their account of the political process weaves a mosaic of class, regional, and institutional forces into a complex reality.
The study is best in its narration of the complex factional warfare and coalitions, the conflicts among elites within the political class, and the sources of fragmentation among the opposition. It also provides a comprehensive and detailed account of the transition from military to civilian rulership and the interrelationship between narcocapitalism and major players in Bolivian politics.
The book needs to look deeper and more systematically into the role of the U. S. imperial state and its working relations with the Bolivian military and economic policy elites, particularly its ties with the Banzer regime. Secondly, the focus on regime changes, while useful, should be in the context of the permanent institutions of the state, corrupt and decadent as they may be. This is particularly important in understanding the cyclical process of regime reshuffling: alternating civilian and military regimes operate within the boundaries or parameters established by the permanent state institutions and their hegemonic overseers. Finally, the last (1985) Estenssoro regime’s economic policy represents a radical rupture with the last residual effects of the 1952 revolution: its radical, neoliberal economic policies, the closing of most of the tin mines and the virtual decimation of the tin miners’ unions (and their partial conversion to coca growers) marks a new chapter in Bolivian political economy rather than an extension of the past. Notwithstanding this critical commentary, this is a highly readable and informative account that fills a gap in contemporary Bolivian political history.
