Jose Manuel Pando (27 December 1849-17 June 1917) was President of Bolivia from 25 October 1899 to 14 August 1904, succeeding Severo Fernandez and preceding Ismael Montes.
Biography[]
Jose Manuel Pando was born in Luribay, Bolivia in 1849, and he joined the Bolivian Army before helping overthrow Mariano Melgarejo's government in 1871 and becoming Agustin Morales' personal aide-de-camp in 1871. Morales furthered Pando's military career until Morales' assassination in November 1872, and a heartbroken Pando resigned from his position. He was recalled during the War of the Pacific, and he was seriously wounded at the Battle of Alto de la Alianza in 1880 and was captured by the Chileans. After the war's end, he returned to Bolivia and led an artillery regiment until 1884. Pando helped explore the obscure regions of northern Bolivia and map out lands in the Amazon rainforest. In 1896, he ran for President of Bolivia as the Liberal Party candidate, but he was defeated by Conservative leader Severo Fernandez Alonso. In 1898, he led a coup against the corrupt Conservative regime, winning the Bolivian Civil War and seizing power in 1899.
Pando presided over a trade surplus due to the rubber boom, ensuring economic stability for the following decades. He also ordered road construction, imported the country's first car, and fought the Acre War with Brazil (which resulted in the cession of territory to Brazil). Pando left power in 1904, and he later broke with his successor Ismael Montes and cofounded the conservative Republican Party of Bolivia in 1914. He died of a stroke in 1917.