Jorge Quiroga

Jorge Fernando Tuto Quiroga Ramírez (born Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramírez; 5 May 1960), known mononymously as Tuto, is a Bolivian industrial engineer and politician who served as the 62nd president of Bolivia from 2001 to 2002. He previously served as the 36th vice president of Bolivia under Hugo Banzer from 1997 to 2001. Born in Cochabamba, Quiroga graduated from Texas A&M University and received an MBA from St. Edward's University. He worked at IBM in the US, and upon his return to Bolivia was vice president of projects and investment at Mercantil Santa Cruz. Under Jaime Paz Zamora, Quiroga served in the Ministry of Planning as subsecretary of public investment and international cooperation and was minister of finance from March to December 1992. He was campaign manager for Hugo Banzer's 1993 presidential campaign and became deputy leader of Nationalist Democratic Action in 1995. Banzer named Quiroga as his running mate in the 1997 election, which their ticket won. As vice president, Quiroga influenced the administration's economic policy and coca eradication plan. His fraught relationship with Banzer nearly led to a split several times. In 2001, Banzer resigned due to a terminal cancer diagnosis and Quiroga succeeded to the presidency. He was one of the youngest presidents in Bolivian history. During his short administration, a national census was conducted and Bolivia unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a natural gas sale to the US. Since leaving office in 2002, Quiroga has been a perennial candidate for president in subsequent elections. He was the runner-up in 2005, placed third in 2014, and dropped out of the 2009 and 2020 elections. He ran again in the 2025 election and advanced to the first-ever ballotage in Bolivian history, being defeated by Rodrigo Paz.