Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
|
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada | |
| First term | 6 August 1993 to 6 August 1997 |
| – Preceded by | Jaime Paz Zamora |
| – Succeeded by | Hugo Banzer |
| Second term | 6 August 2002 to 17 October 2003 |
| – Preceded by | Jorge Quiroga |
| – Succeeded by | Carlos Mesa |
| Date of birth | July 1, 1930 |
| Place of birth | La Paz |
| First Lady | Ximena Iturralde |
| Party | MNR |
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Bustamante (born July 1, 1930, in the city of La Paz), familiarly known as "Goni", is a former two-term president of Bolivia. He is credited for "shock therapy" (with Jeffrey Sachs) — the extreme measures taken by Bolivia to cut down on rampant hyperinflation caused by excessive government spending.
He studied literature and philosophy in the United States, and is sometimes criticized in Bolivia as "El Gringo" — referring to his poor Spanish, highly American upbringing, and pro-US policies. He is a member of the MNR. He obtained 22.46% of the vote in the June 30, 2002 elections.
He is uncle of former governor of National Bank of Serbia Kori Udovicki.
Gas War & resignation
An Indio uprising —among them Evo Morales, a Socialist-populist leader and the main opponent to Lozada —brough about a civil uprising known as the Bolivian Gas War to stop Lozada from exporting Bolivia's raw natural gas reserves to Chile. In order to bring an end to the uprising, which seemed to have no end in sight, and had killed over 80 people, Lozada was forced to resign on 17 October 2003.
After being the stellar example and coddled darling for free-market capitalists in the US, Lozada escaped with his family to Miami, Florida. Before he fled he stole $85 million from the Bolivian Central Bank.