Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
Gonzalo Daniel Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante (born 1 July 1930), often referred to as Goni, is a Bolivian businessman and politician who served as the 61st president of Bolivia from 1993 to 1997 and from 2002 to 2003. A member of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), he previously served as minister of planning and coordination under Víctor Paz Estenssoro and succeeded him as the MNR's national chief in 1990.
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada | |
|---|---|
Sánchez de Lozada in 2003 | |
| 61st President of Bolivia | |
| In office 6 August 2002 – 17 October 2003 | |
| Vice President | Carlos Mesa |
| Preceded by | Jorge Quiroga |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Mesa |
| In office 6 August 1993 – 6 August 1997 | |
| Vice President | Víctor Hugo Cárdenas |
| Preceded by | Jaime Paz Zamora |
| Succeeded by | Hugo Banzer |
| Minister of Planning and Coordination | |
| In office 22 January 1986 – 20 September 1988 | |
| President | Víctor Paz Estenssoro |
| Preceded by | Guillermo Bedregal Gutiérrez |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Romero Moreno |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Gonzalo Daniel Sánchez de Lozada Sánchez Bustamante 1 July 1930 La Paz, Bolivia |
| Political party | Revolutionary Nationalist Movement |
| Spouse | Ximena Iturralde |
| Parent(s) | Enrique Sánchez de Lozada Carmen Sánchez Bustamante |
| Relatives | Daniel Sánchez Bustamante (grandfather) |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago (A.B.) |
| Awards | Order of the Condor of the Andes |
| Signature | |
As minister of planning, Sánchez de Lozada employed "shock therapy" in 1985 to cut hyperinflation from an estimated 25,000% to a single digit within a period of less than six weeks. Sánchez de Lozada was twice elected president of Bolivia, both times on the MNR ticket. During his first term (1993–1997), he initiated a series of landmark social, economic and constitutional reforms. Elected to a second term in 2002, he struggled with protests and events in October 2003 related to the Bolivian gas conflict. According to official reports, 59 protestors, ten soldiers and sixteen policemen died in confrontations. As a result of the violent clashes, Sánchez de Lozada resigned and went into exile in the United States. In March 2006, he resigned the leadership of the MNR.
The governments of Evo Morales and Luis Arce have unsuccessfully sought his extradition from the U.S. to stand trial for the events of 2003. Victims' representatives have pursued compensatory damages for extrajudicial killings in a suit against him in the United States under the Alien Tort Statute. In 2014, the U.S. District Court in Florida ruled the case could proceed under the Torture Victim Protection Act. The trial, which began on 5 March 2018 and concluded on 30 May 2018, found Sánchez de Lozada and his former defense minister Carlos Sanchez Berzaín not liable for the civilian deaths after the judge declared that there was "insufficient evidence". Nevertheless, on 3 August 2020, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated this ruling. On 5 April 2021, a separate U.S. District Court ruling reaffirmed a 2018 jury verdict which found both Sánchez de Lozada and Carlos Sanchez Berzaín liable and required them to pay $10 million.