Hugo Banzer Suárez (born 1926), Bolivian president from 1971 to 1979, presided over the nation's largest economic boom. He remained politically active as head of the ADN party, and succeeded in winning the presidential election to reclaim power in 1997.

Hugo Banzer Suárez was born July 10, 1926, in Bolivia's (then) sparsely-populated Eastern Lowlands at Santa Cruz. He came from a family of pure Spanish blood in this ranching region noted for its fierce independence and its difference from the highlands, where the majority of Bolivians lived.

He was educated at La Paz and entered the military academy there, graduating as a cavalry lieutenant. After routine postings he was selected to receive training at the U.S. Army School of the Americas in Panama, beginning a long contact with the United States. In 1960 he was sent to train at the Fort Hood, Texas, Armored Cavalry School, and, after several years'...