Agustin Morales (11 March 1808-27 November 1872) was President of Bolivia from 15 January 1871 to 27 November 1872, succeeding Mariano Melgarejo and preceding Tomas Frias.
Biography[]
Agustin Morales was born in La Paz, Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata in 1808. He joined the Bolivian Army and supported Jose Ballivian before opposing his successor Manuel Isidoro Belzu, attempting to assassinate him in 1850. He was forced into exile in Peru and did not return until the overthrow of Belzu's protege Jorge Cordova. Morales supported Mariano Melgarejo's 1864 coup, and he was rewarded with a generalship and command of the Bolivian Army. In 1871, he overthrew his brutal benefactor, but he proved to be just as much a despot and shut down the national congress in 1872. Melgarejo loyalist Quintin Quevedo led an invasion of Bolivia from Valparaiso, and, while this rebellion was crushed, Morales was shot by his nephew Federico Lafaye while attacking him during a mental health crisis on 27 November 1872.