Hernán Terrazas Céspedes
 | This article, Hernán Terrazas Céspedes, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
| This article, Hernán Terrazas Céspedes, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
Hernán Terrazas Céspedes | |
|---|---|
 General Hernán Terrazas Céspedes | |
| Mayor of Cochabamba | |
| In office 1 December 1978 – 31 July 1979 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 3, 1926 Torotoro, Bolivia |
| Died | November 6, 2020 La Paz, Bolivia |
| Political party | Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (1952-2020) |
| Spouse | Beatriz de Alencar |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Eugenio Terrazas Octavia Céspedes |
| Education | Military College of the Army |
| Awards |  Order of the Condor of the Andes Order of Military Merit (Grand Officer) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Bolivia |
| Branch/service |  Bolivian Army |
| Years of service | 1948-1979 |
| Rank | General |
Hernán Terrazas Céspedes (3 December 1926 – 6 November 2020) was a Bolivian general who served as Mayor of Cochabamba during the era of dictatorships in Bolivia.[1] Early in his military career he was stationed in the Rocha Regiment, as David Padilla recalled in his memoirs, and, as a second lieutenant, formed part of the rebel lines in Incahuasi during the 1949 coup d'état in Bolivia.[2]
Early military career
Terrazas served as aide-de-camp to President Victor Paz Estenssoro and was sent to West Germany as military attaché. This constituted his entry into the world of politics. The Alliance for Progress, which resulted in American influence in Latin America, led to the creation of the School of the Americas. Terrazas, like many other Latin American military officers, was a graduate and instructor of this institution. While he held the rank of Major, he instructed a couple of courses at the School of the Americas in 1961.[3]
After being promoted to the rank of Colonel, Terrazas served as representative of the Bolivian Armed Forces to the Development Corporation of the Oruro Department.[4]
Later military career
First, Terrazas was promoted to the rank of General of Brigade in 1974. Later on, he was promoted to Division General by a Supreme Decree signed by Hugo Banzer.[5][6]
Hailing from the small town of Torotoro, located in the Potosí Department, Terrazas also worked in the development of its infrastructure while he was Mayor of Cochabamba. Participating in such an activity was common at the time and a part of the urban-rural dynamics coming from the major metropolitan center of Cochabamba.[7]
As senior officer of the Bolivian Army, Terrazas wreceived the illustrious Brazilian Order of Military Merit on 8 March 1978.[8] Terrazas even served as Chief of Staff of the Bolivian Armed Forces, becoming the second most powerful man in the country during the dictatorship of Hugo Banzer (1971-1978).[9]
Later life and death
Later in his life, Terrazas helped author J.J. Benítez in his work El Hombre que susurraba a los «Ummitas» (2007), a novel seeking to answer whether alien life existed.[10] Terrazas died of a stroke at his home in La Paz on 6 November 2020, aged 93.
References
- ^ Canata: revista municipal de cultura, Volumes 9-12
- ^ Padilla, David (1982). "Decisiones y recuerdos de un general."
- ^ "SOA Students and Instructors from Bolivia 1949 - 1996". www.derechos.org.
- ^ Corporación de Desarrollo de Oruro (1973). "Memoria."
- ^ "DECRETO SUPREMO No 12088 del 27 de Diciembre de 1974 > D-Lex Bolivia | Gaceta Oficial de Bolivia | Derechoteca". www.derechoteca.com.
- ^ "Codigo Boliviano".
- ^ Galindo, Fernando (2017). "Retorno de élites y disputa por el control del territorio entre residentes y campesinos en Torotoro, Bolivia."
- ^ Almanaque dos graduados da ordem do mérito militar (1979)
- ^ Vargas Valenzuela, Jose (1988). "Reportaje a la historia."
- ^ "El hombre que susurraba a los «ummitas»". www.librosdemario.com.