Eudoro Galindo

Galindo's stint back in the US proved short, as within a few months of the botched January coup, a second putsch spearheaded by Banzer succeeded in toppling the Torres regime,[22] allowing Galindo to return to Bolivia. Despite holding some minor positions in the state apparatus during Banzer's near-decade-long dictatorship—including serving as Cochabamba's delegate to the National Directorate of Youths in 1975—Galindo, for the most part, returned to his career in business. His first foray into politics did not occur until after the fall of the Banzer regime, during the country's democratic reopening.[3] In March 1979,[23] he became one of the principal architects and founding members of Nationalist Democratic Action (ADN),[24] a self-described "great party of the Bolivian right"[5] designed to revitalize Banzer's public image from that of an authoritarian with only "'an inkling' of what democracy implied" into a civilian leader capable of "play[ing] the democratic game."[25]

As the party's deputy leader, Galindo composed part of ADN's pro-business wing and, according to sociologist Salvador Romero, was integral in helping give it "an identity committed to the interests of the economic elite."[3] Indeed, throughout his tenure in leadership, Galindo became characterized by his "tough anti-union stance," pledging to "apply the law" against trade unions organizing general strikes and calling for the closure of state-run enterprises, such as the partly-worker-managed Bolivian Mining Corporation.[26][27] Ideologically, Galindo's disposition and political stances drew mixed readings. Some sources regard him as having represented the "hardline right-wing sectors in the party,"[28] with his—as described by James Dunkerley—"thuggery"[29] drawing comparisons to El Salvador's Roberto D'Aubuisson.[12] For figures like Romero, however, "Galindo belonged to [ADN's] liberal and modernizing current, as opposed to a more conservative side."[3]

Within just a few months of its foundation, ADN contested its first general election, in which Galindo was elected to represent Cochabamba in the Chamber of Deputies.[3] As with most members of the 1979–1980 Congress, his short first term proved unproductive, as the hung parliament produced by the 1979 elections found itself incapable of governing—or even selecting a president.[30] To resolve the impasse, snap general elections were held in 1980,[31][32] in which Galindo again won a seat in the lower chamber.[3] Ultimately, however, he and all other members-elect were prevented from assuming office by the coup d'état of Luis García Meza, which shut down the previous legislature.[33]

For ADN, the military's 1980 return to power created a point of contention between members who wished to collaborate with the new regime and those unwilling to do so. Recalling the period to Los Tiempos, Galindo stated: "there were those [in ADN] who believed that we had to be the political arm of the Armed Forces and others, like me, who believed that we should not interfere." Galindo composed the core group of ADN leaders—including Banzer—who "rejected any collaboration," even as other prominent members were given "special permission" to take up ministerial posts within García Meza's cabinet. Over the course of the ensuing year, Galindo participated in two attempted countercoups against the García Meza regime, both of which failed, forcing him into hiding until after the fall of the general's military government.[34] In 1982, following the Armed Forces' decision to step down and hand the reins of government to the Congress elected in 1980, Galindo and his colleagues returned to parliament.[35]

Nearing the conclusion of his parliamentary term, Galindo shifted focus towards the campaign trail as he again prepared to contest another election. With the campaign underway for the 1985 general election, Galindo was tapped to accompany Banzer as his running mate, a significant step up in his political career.[3] Bolstered by rampant hyperinflation and widespread discontent with the incumbent left-wing government, the Banzer-Galindo ticket seemed poised to cruise to victory.[25] Those prospects dampened somewhat midway through the campaign, as Galindo faced controversy for allegedly falsifying his military service records, claiming to have received a libreta militar—a prerequisite for holding public office—despite having never served in the Bolivian Armed Forces. Faced with a petition on the part of military high command to disqualify his candidacy, Galindo accused the Armed Forces of seeking to postpone the elections, even alleging that they were plotting a coup in conjunction with left-wing trade syndicates.[13][36] Ultimately, the scandal over Galindo's military service failed to substantially damage Banzer's campaign, and the pair exited first on election day with an over thirty percent popular vote plurality.[25]

Having failed to win the popular vote outright, the decision to appoint a new president and vice president was handed over to the newly-elected Congress.[25] In a move unprecedented in Bolivian history at the time, Banzer and Galindo were denied control of the executive branch, as the opposition-led legislature instead selected runner-up Víctor Paz Estenssoro to hold the presidency.[37] For his part, Banzer brushed aside any animosity over the snub and quickly moved to enter a coalition agreement with Paz Estenssoro's government.[38][39] Galindo, on the other hand, was not as keen on cooperating with the new administration, labeling any notion of collaboration with Paz Estenssoro's Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) as "dangerous". Speaking to the Latin American Weekly Report, Galindo affirmed that "[ADN] will not make any deals ... If this means we cannot be the government, we would rather go into opposition." Ultimately, Galindo's discontent with the 1986 "Pact for Democracy"—reached between Banzer and Paz Estenssoro to jointly combat the ongoing financial crisis—provoked a significant fracture in the ranks of ADN, with Galindo resigning from leadership in protest.[28]

Following a failed leadership challenge against Banzer,[28] Galindo and his congressional collaborators were expelled from ADN and labeled "fascists" by the party.[40] With that, Galindo quickly moved to form his own party, dubbed the Nationalist Democratic Front,[41] later renamed to the Bolivian Democratic Party (PDB).[23] By 1987, the new party had absorbed a significant portion of ADN's parliamentary caucus, with at least ten adenistas, including all deputies from Cochabamba, Potosí, and Tarija, joining the PDB's ranks. Amid a public spat between the two figures, Banzer termed Galindo "an unknown," while Galindo reneged on his previous support for the general's 1970s military regime, to the point that he even reopened an inquiry into human rights violations committed by his government.[41]

Given the circumstances of his departure from ADN, it is paradoxical, then, that Galindo's PDB ultimately opted to align itself with the MNR to contest the 1989 general election.[23] For Romero, Galindo's apparent reversal illustrated the MNR's "shift towards [neo]liberalism and enthusiasm for the elite" under the leadership of Paz Estenssoro's successor, Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. As part of his alliance with the MNR, Galindo was elected to represent Cochabamba in the Senate from 1989 to 1993, after which he returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 1993.[39][42] Midway through his term, however, Galindo's pact with the MNR came to a sudden halt after he challenged the party's chosen candidate, Guillermo Bedregal, for the presidency of the lower chamber.[43][44] In a dramatic August 1995 session, Galindo managed to unite the votes of opposition legislators from both the left and right, nearly defeating Bedregal in the process.[5][45] The near-victory, according to Romero, was "surprising ... since the discipline of the parties [usually made] the election of the chambers' directorates predictable."[45] In retaliation for the failed coup, Galindo was expelled from the MNR "for treachery against the party."[46][47]

Having eroded trust between himself and the country's two top political leaders, Galindo launched his own presidential bid in the 1997 general election. Faced with the PDB's small partisan base, Galindo's campaign sought out the aid of other politicians who had been marginalized from their fronts, including them on his party's slate of parliamentary candidates. The strategy failed to significantly drum up support for his candidacy, and he exited dead last on election day, taking less than a percent of the national popular vote, a margin too small even for his PDB to keep its registration as a political party.[45]

Following his 1997 loss, Galindo initiated a gradual rapprochement with the now-president Banzer, who designated him as the country's ambassador to Japan. He maintained the position for the duration of Banzer's term before being dismissed in 2002. After that, Galindo again sought to construct his own political project, forming Molle in 2004, which contested that year's municipal election in the city of Cochabamba. The party's poor electoral showing marked the end of Galindo's political career, and he retired from active participation in politics from then on.[15][45]