Carlos Mesa

Carlos Mesa
63rd President of Bolivia
In office 17 October 2003 – 9 June 2005
Vice President	Vacant
Preceded by	Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
Succeeded by	Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (interim)
37th Vice President of Bolivia
In office 6 August 2002 – 17 October 2003
President	Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada
Preceded by	Jorge Quiroga Ramírez
Succeeded by	Álvaro García Linera
Personal details
Born	Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert (1953-08-12) 12 August 1953 (age 68) La Paz, Bolivia
Nationality	Bolivian
Political party	Revolutionary Left Front (2018–present) Independent (2003–2018) Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (2002–2003)
Other political affiliations	Civic Community (political coalition)
Spouse(s)	Elvira Salinas de Mesa
Alma mater	Complutense University of Madrid, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés
Signature
Website	carlosdmesa.com

Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert (born 12 August 1953) is a Bolivian historian and politician who served as the 63rd President of Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. He was the 37th Vice President of Bolivia from 2002 to 2003. Mesa previously had been a television journalist. His widespread recognition prompted the MNR candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to pick him as running mate in the 2002 Bolivian presidential elections.

The winning ticket of Sánchez-Mesa took office 6 August 2002.^[1] Soon after becoming vice president, a wave of protests and strikes shut down Bolivia in a bitter dispute known as the Bolivian Gas War. The government's repression of said demonstrations eventually lead Mesa to withdraw support for Sánchez de Lozada, whose resignation put Mesa forward as president.

Mesa's presidency was marked by a continuation of the Bolivian gas crisis and the delicate sociopolitical status it created. Mesa resigned on 9 June 2005 amid heavy dissatisfaction with his government and pressure from labor unions, coca activists, members of the Santa Cruz autonomist movement, citizen protest, and the growing MAS-IPSP party, figure-headed by future president Evo Morales.^[2]

After his presidency, Mesa was a spokesman for Bolivia in the Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean case in the International Court of Justice, which was ultimately unsuccessful.^[3]

Mesa has attempted to be elected president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in his own right, running for the centre-left alliance Civic Community (CC), twice in 2019 and 2020. The 2019 election, in which Mesa came second place to President Morales, was annulled after widespread allegations of fraud. In the 2020 election, Mesa lost to Luis Arce, to whom he conceded defeat without challenging the results of the election and calling the CC coalition to lead the Bolivian opposition.^[4]

Mesa is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Early life[]

Family[]

He is the son of an architect and an art historian: José de Mesa and Teresa Gisbert.

Education[]

He grew up in La Paz, Bolivia. He enrolled in San Estaniis-lao de Kotska in Madrid.^{[citation needed]} In 1971, He studied Literature in Las Universidades Complutense de Madrid. He entered the department of Political Science in the University of Madrid.^[5] Three years later, he returned to his native La Paz, and joined the Language and Literature Department of the University of San Andres.^[6]

Career[]

In 1969, Carlos Mesa was a radio intern at Universo de La Paz, where he made his debut as a journalist. He later developed two radio programs Méndez (1974) and Metropolitana (1976)^[7]

Vice president of Bolivia (2002–2003)[]

His widespread recognition prompted the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) candidate Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada to pick him as running mate in the 2002 Bolivian presidential elections. The winning ticket of Sánchez-Mesa took office 6 August 2002.^[8] As vice president, Carlos Mesa also was the leader of Congress of Bolivia.

Soon after becoming vice president, a wave of protests and strikes shut down Bolivia in a bitter dispute known as the Bolivian Gas War.

As the gas conflict escalated, Mesa ended discontent with the government's heavy-handed repression of the protests, which would leave over 60 people dead during September and October 2003. He did not resign, but he did withdraw his support for Sánchez de Lozada five days before the latter's resignation, saying: "I cannot continue to support the situation we are living through". Mesa also left the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement.

In September 2003, he addressed the UN General Assembly, where he warned:

Democracy is in danger in Bolivia as the result of legitimate pressures from the poor. We cannot generate economic growth and well-being for a few and then expect that the large majorities that are excluded will watch silently and patiently. We poor countries demand that our products be admitted into the markets of rich countries in adequate conditions.

Presidency (2003–2005)[]

On 17 October 2003 Sánchez de Lozada resigned and fled to the United States of America. Mesa thus assumed functions as President of Bolivia.

Eight months after assuming office, Mesa found himself, like President Sanchez de Lozada, under the same extreme internal and external political pressures over the use of Bolivia's 1.5 trillion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, estimated to be worth billions of dollars (USD). It also placed him at the center of extreme political pressures from both internal Bolivian and external foreign interests regarding the use of Bolivia's rates and the property of the gas reserves for the Bolivian state.

In addition, in January 2004, he announced that his government would hold a series of rallies around the country and at its embassies abroad, demanding that Chile return to Bolivia a stretch of seacoast that the country lost in 1879 after the end of the War of the Pacific. Chile has traditionally refused to negotiate on the issue, but Mesa nonetheless made this policy a central point of his administration seeking the popular support he lacked.

In July 2004, under pressure from the Movement for Socialism (MAS) of the peasant trade unionist Evo Morales, he organised a "gas referendum" during which the majority of the population voted for the nationalisation of hydrocarbons. Faced with opposition from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and multinationals, he declared that this law was "impossible" to implement.^[9]

Following a resurgence in protests, he tendered his resignation to congress on 6 March 2005; however, the legislators voted almost unanimously the next day to reject his offer. Still, domestic tensions between the poor and rural eastern highlands and the wealthier cities and oil-rich south continued to rise. Weeks of escalating street demonstrations and widening disorder reached a peak in June 2005 as tens of thousands of protesters marched into La Paz. Aware of his growing inability to control or influence events without resorting to violence, Mesa tendered his resignation to congress. This time, congress unanimously accepted his offer. The presidents of the two national legislative chambers at that point abdicated their constitutional powers in favor of Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and new president of Bolivia. He was charged with the duty of swiftly organizing national elections, which led to the massive victory of MAS candidate Evo Morales in December 2005. Later, Evo Morales's government accused Carlos Mesa for economic damages to the country interests.

Bolivian spokesman before the ICJ[]

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Leaving behind previous animosity, Morales agreed with Mesa that the latter would be the Bolivian spokesman in the case against Chile presented to the International Court of Justice.^[10]

Return to politics[]

On 6 October 2018, Mesa Gisbert joined the Revolutionary Left Front (FRI) and announced on his YouTube channel that he would run for president in the 2019 election. On 13 November 2018 the FRI formed with Sovereignty and Freedom the Civic Community coalition to support Mesa's bid for presidency. His candidacy was also externally supported by the National Unity Front.^{[citation needed]}

The election saw the victory of incumbent President Evo Morales of the Movement for Socialism; however, the election was alleged to be marred by fraud and controversy, triggering protests and strikes by the opposition. Following two weeks of protests and under increasing pressure from the Armed Forces of Bolivia, Morales resigned along with Vice-President Álvaro García Linera, President of the Senate Adriana Salvatierra, President of the Chamber of Deputies Víctor Borda and First Vice-President of the Senate Rubén Medinaceli. Second Vice-President of the Senate Jeanine Áñez assumed functions as acting President of Bolivia.^{[citation needed]}

Mesa recognised Áñez as the legitimate President and announced he would run again in the 2020 election. With the right-wing parties divided between multiple candidates, Mesa held a consistent second place behind the front runner Luis Arce, the MAS candidate, in opinion polling. Despite hopes of a one-on-one race between the two in a November runoff, a quick-count of the vote conducted by polling firm Ciesmori on the morning of 19 October indicated that Arce had won 52.4% of the vote, enough to win the election outright.^[11] Mesa conceded the election later the same day writing on Twitter “I give a very heartfelt thanks to the Bolivians who voted for CC [Comunidad Ciudadana]. And to the Bolivian people for their democratic commitment. To the militants and directors of CC, to our allies: FRI, People First and Chuquisaca Somos Todos. It is our turn to be the head of the opposition. We will honor Bolivia.”^[12]

In June 2021, Mesa was called to testify in the "coup case" against Jeanine Áñez, several former ministers, and himself included. Mesa declined to testify in the first hearing but accused former president Evo Morales of a major fraud during the 2019 election and of building a case to "destroy the opposition and [Mesa's] himself."^[13] Mesa further stated that the "coup case" was fabricated and denounced a smokescreen to distract public attention for the mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bolivia by the government of Luis Arce.^[14] Before presenting himself before the Prosecution, Mesa had said that he would defend Áñez and said of the ruling MAS party that it was heading Bolivia to a profound sanitary crisis and unemployment, denying the charges against him.^[15][16]

Works[]

• Cine boliviano, del realizador al crítico (co-author, 1979)
• El cine boliviano según Luis Espinal (1982)
• Presidentes de Bolivia: entre urnas y fusiles (1983)
• Manual de historia de Bolivia (co-author, 1983)
• La aventura del cine boliviano 1952-1985 (1985)
• Un debate entre gitanos (1991)
• De cerca, una década de conversaciones en democracia (1993)
• La epopeya del fútbol boliviano (1994)
• Territorios de libertad (1995)
• Historia de Bolivia (co-author, 1997)
• El vano de la vida incansable (co-author, 1999)
• La espada en la palabra (2000)
• El Vicepresidente ¿la sombra del poder? (co-author, 2003)
• Presidencia sitiada: memorias de mi gobierno (2008)
• Un gobierno de ciudadanos (editor, 2008)
• Many documentaries made for television, including the series "Bolivia Siglo XX", a contemporary history of Bolivia consisting of 36 documentaries, each about an hour long, made in conjunction with Mario Espinoza and produced by Ximena Valdivia.

See also[]

• History of Bolivia
• List of presidents of Bolivia
• Politics of Bolivia

References[]

External links[]

• Official web site of the president of Bolivia
• Carlos Mesa at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB) (in Spanish)
• Bolivian president plans resignation^{[permanent dead link]}, CNN, 6 June 2005
• Spectre of Civil War for Bolivia – Financial Times
• Bolivia on a Tight Rope – DissidentVoice.org (background information)
• The Carlos Mesa's referendum, 2004 (video, Spanish)