Juan Pereda

Juan Pereda Asbún (17 June 1931 – 25 November 2012) was a Bolivian military general who served as the 52nd president of Bolivia in 1978. He ruled for only four months and his ascent to the presidency marked the beginning of the most unstable period in Bolivian history, with nine presidents in a little over 4 years (1978–1982), in comparison to only one in the previous seven. Juan Pereda was born in La Paz on 17 June 1931. His father was from a family of merchants and his mother was from a wealthy family of Palestinian Christians. Pereda joined the Bolivian armed forces, later becoming part of its nascent Air Force. He led the Military Aviation School and was subsequently appointed Air Force Commander. He served in the dictatorship of Hugo Banzer (1971–1978) as Minister of Industry and, in the late 1970s, as Minister of Interior, perhaps the most powerful post in the regime after Banzer himself. When in 1978 the then-dictator decided to call elections after seven years in power, he chose Pereda to run as his surrogate. At the time, Bolivian presidents were barred from immediate re-election. It was assumed that Pereda would be elected with the "help" of a rigged election, rule for four years, and then allow Banzer to return as constitutional president once he had time to polish up his image and transition to civilian politics. Apparently, Banzer had second thoughts, for by election time the left-wing UDP coalition of former president Hernán Siles was out to a massive lead in the polls, and no amount of rigging could have denied it. Pereda ran as the candidate of the Nationalist Union of the People, a right-wing alliance. Official results showed Pereda winning with just over 50 percent of the vote, a few thousand votes over...