Torres González, Juan José

(c. 1921–1976)

   Leftist general and president of Bolivia (October 1970–August 1971). Coming to power in a coup, he led a revolution supported by miners, peasants, students, and fellow leftist military officers. Some of these officers had become revolutionaries after taking part in the 1967 capture of Che Guevara in Bolivia, having been converted through discussions with captured guerrillas. Ousted in a right-wing coup by General Hugo Banzer Suárez, Torres González fled to Argentina, which had not yet fallen to military dictatorship. There he plotted a left-wing countercoup. In June 1976, a little over two months after the Argentine military had seized power, Torres González was kidnapped by a death squad and murdered. His corpse was found in Buenos Aires; he had been blindfolded and shot three times. In November 1999 the Argentine government ruled the killing an act of Operation Condor, accepted partial responsibility, and awarded his widow $325,000 in compensation.