From Development to Dictatorship: Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress in the Kennedy Era

297 Pages·2014·2.08 MB·English

by  Thomas C. Field Jr.

From Development to Dictatorship
A VOLUME IN THE SERIES
THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD
edited by Mark Philip Bradley, David C. Engerman, and Paul A. Kramer
A list of titles in this series is available at www .cornellpress .cornell .edu .
From Development
to Dictatorship
Bolivia and the Alliance for Progress
in the Kennedy Era
Thomas C. Field Jr.
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Publication of this book was supported by grants from the Scouloudi
Foundation, in association with the University of London’s Institute of
Historical Research, and from Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University.
Copyright © 2014 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2014 by Cornell University Press
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Field, Thomas C., Jr., author.
From development to dictatorship : Bolivia and the alliance for
progress in the Kennedy era / Thomas C. Field Jr.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 8014-5 260- 4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Bolivia— Politics and government—1952–1 982. 2. Bolivia—
History—1952–1 982. 3. Bolivia— Social conditions—1952– 1982.
4. United States— Foreign relations— Bolivia. 5. Bolivia— Foreign
relations— United States. 6. Alliance for Progress. I. Title.
F3326.F48 2014
984.05'2—dc23 2013038571
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible
suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing
of its books. Such materials include vegetable- based, low- VOC inks
and acid- free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine- free, or partly
composed of nonwood fi bers. For further information, visit our website
at www .cornellpress .cornell .edu .
Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Milena

Contents
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xvii
Map of South America, Early 1960s xx
Map of Bolivia, Early 1960s xxi
Introduction: Ideology as Strategy 1
1. Modernization’s Heavy Hand: The Triangular Plan for Bolivia 10
2. Development as Anticommunism: The Targeting of
Bolivian Labor 39
3. “Bitter Medicine”: Military Civic Action and the Battle of
Irupata 67
4. Development’s Detractors: Miners, House wives, and
the Hostage Crisis at Siglo XX 98
5. Seeds of Revolt: The Making of an Antiauthoritarian Front 131
6. Revolutionary Bolivia Puts On a Uniform:
The 1964 Bolivian Coup d’État 159
Conclusion: Development and Its Discontents 189
Notes 197
Bibliography 243
Index 263

Preface
During a six- month jaunt around South America in early 1963, American
journalist Hunter S. Thompson became fi xated on what he called “Baffl ing
Bolivia: A Never-N ever Land High above the Sea.” Swigging bourbon whis-
key on the couch of a US Embassy offi cial as armed workers and peasants
patrolled the streets, Thompson was enthralled by the “manic atmosphere” he
found in revolutionary Bolivia’s capital city, La Paz, “compared to the gray
formality of Lima and the tomb-l ike dullness of Quito.” Summing up his
experiences in typical tongue- in- cheek fashion, Thompson wrote that “Bo-
livia is a land of excesses, exaggerations, quirks, contradictions, and every man-
ner of oddity and abuse.”1 US offi cials in Bolivia rivaled Thompson’s prose.
Ambassador Ben Stephansky noted in 1962 that he had been assigned to a
“complicated and perplexing country.” Two years later, his successor Douglas
Henderson likewise complained that Bolivia had an “Arab- like pol iti cal world”
with “byzantine complexity.” In May 1963, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
operative General Edward Lansdale—h imself no literary slouch—l amented
that Bolivia “is a land of vexing paradox for the US.”2
Little has changed in fi fty years. Since I began work on this book, Bolivia
has experienced violent civilian uprisings, at least one peasant massacre, the
declaration of a US ambassador persona non grata, the expulsion of the Drug
Enforcement Agency, a weeklong strike by mutinous national police, and
most recently the ejection of the United States Agency for International De-
velopment (USAID). Over the past seven years, I have been intrigued by the
Bolivian riddle. In the pro cess, I have incurred many debts.