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- Government
-
- Long-form name: Republic of Bolivia.
-
- Type: republic.
-
- Capital: La Paz (seat of government); Sucre (legal capital
- and seat of judiciary).
-
- Administrative divisions: 9 departments (departamentos,
- singular--departamento); Chuquisaca, Cochabamba, El Beni,
- La Paz, Oruro, Pando, Potosi, Santa Cruz, Tarija.
-
- Independence: 6 August 1825 (from Spain).
-
- Constitution: 2 February 1967.
-
- Legal system: based on Spanish law and Code Napoleon; has
- not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.
-
- National holiday: Independence Day, 6 August (1825).
-
- Executive branch: president, vice president, Cabinet.
-
- Legislative branch: bicameral National Congress (Congreso
- Nacional) consists of an upper chamber or Senate (Senado)
- and a lower chamber or Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados).
-
- Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Corte Suprema).
-
- Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government--President
- Jaime PAZ Zamora (since 6 August 1989); Vice President Luis
- OSSIO Sanjines (since 6 August 1989).
-
- Political parties and leaders: Movement of the Revolutionary
- Left (MIR), Jaime Paz Zamora; Nationalist Democratic Action
- (ADN), Hugo Banzer Suarez; Nationalist Revolutionary Movement
- (MNR), Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada; United Left (IU), coalition
- of leftist parties which includes Free Bolivia Movement
- (MBL), led by Antonio Aranibar, Patriotic National Convergency
- Axis (EJE-P) led by Walter Delgadillo, and Bolivian Communist
- Party (PCB) led by Humberto Ramirez; Conscience of the Fatherland
- (CONDEPA), Carlos Palenque Aviles; Revolutionary Vanguard-9th
- of April (VR-9), Carlos Serrate Reich.
-
- Suffrage: universal and compulsory at age 18 (married) or
- 21 (single).
-
- Elections:
-
- President--last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993);
- results--Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (MNR) 23%, Hugo Banzer Suarez
- (ADN) 22%, Jaime Paz Zamora (MIR) 19%; no candidate received a
- majority of the popular vote; Jaime Paz Zamora (MIR) formed a
- coalition with Hugo Banzer (ADN); with ADN support Paz Zamora
- won the congressional runoff election on 4 August and was
- inaugurated on 6 August;
-
- Senate--last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held May 1993);
- results--percent of vote NA; seats (27 total) MNR 9, ADN
- 8, MIR 8, CONDEPA 2;
-
- Chamber of Deputies--last held 7 May 1989 (next to be held
- May 1993); results--percent of vote by party NA; seats (130
- total) MNR 40, ADN 38, MIR 30, IU 10, CONDEPA 9, VR-9 3.
-
- Member of: FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IATP, IBRD, ICAO, ICO,
- IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, ILO,
- IMF, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC--International
- Wheat Council, LAIA, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU,
- WHO, WMO, WTO.
-
- Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jorge CRESPO; Chancery
- at 3014 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone
- (202) 483-4410 through 4412; there are Bolivian Consulates
- General in Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New
- York, and San Francisco; US--Ambassador Robert GELBARD;
- Embassy at Banco Popular del Peru Building, corner of Calles
- Mercado y Colon, La Paz (mailing address is P. O. Box 425,
- La Paz, or APO Miami 34032); telephone [591] (2) 350251
- or 350120.
-
- Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), yellow,
- and green with the coat of arms centered on the yellow band;
- similar to the flag of Ghana, which has a large black five-pointed
- star centered in the yellow band.
-