1939 in Bolivia

Decades:	1910s ; 1920s ; 1930s ; 1940s ; 1950s ;
See also:	Other events of 1939 ; History of Bolivia • Years

Last updated August 30, 2025

Incumbents

President: Germán Busch (until 23 August), Carlos Quintanilla (Interim president) (starting 23 August)^[1]
Vice President: Enrique Baldivieso (PSU) (until 24 April), vacant (until 4 December), none (starting 4 December)^[2]

Events

24 April – President Germán Busch dismisses the assembly and declares dictatorial rule.^[3]
23 August – President Germán Busch commits suicide by gunshot.^[1] The armed forces appoints the commander-in-chief of the army General Carlos Quintanilla interim president.^[4]
6 October – General elections are called for 10 March 1940.^[5]
4 December – The office of vice president is abolished by decree in order to circumvent claims of constitutional succession by former vice president Enrique Baldivieso.^[2]

Births

15 April – Jaime Paz Zamora, 32nd Vice President of Bolivia, 60th President of Bolivia

Deaths

1 May – Bautista Saavedra, 29th President of Bolivia (b. 1870)
23 August – Germán Busch, 36th President of Bolivia (b. 1904)
12 September – Eliodoro Villazón, 27th President of Bolivia, oldest living state leader to that point (b.1848)

References

1 2 Steinberg, S. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1952. Springer. p. 806. ISBN 9780230270817.
1 2 "Bolivia: Decreto Ley de 4 de diciembre de 1939". www.lexivox.org. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
↑ "TOTALITARIAN RULE DECREED IN BOLIVIA BY PRESIDENT, 35; Busch Assumes Dictatorial Powers, Doing Away With Congress and Basic Law (Published 1939)". The New York Times. 25 April 1939. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 24 October 2020.
↑ "Conmoción y duda: ¿fue la muerte de Germán Busch un suicidio?". www.paginasiete.bo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
↑ "Bolivia: Decreto Ley de 17 de noviembre de 1939". www.lexivox.org. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

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[Steinberg-1] 1 2 Steinberg, S. (2016). The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1952. Springer. p. 806. ISBN 9780230270817.

[:0-2] 1 2 "Bolivia: Decreto Ley de 4 de diciembre de 1939". www.lexivox.org. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

[3] "TOTALITARIAN RULE DECREED IN BOLIVIA BY PRESIDENT, 35; Busch Assumes Dictatorial Powers, Doing Away With Congress and Basic Law (Published 1939)". The New York Times. 25 April 1939. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved 24 October 2020.

[4] "Conmoción y duda: ¿fue la muerte de Germán Busch un suicidio?". www.paginasiete.bo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.

[5] "Bolivia: Decreto Ley de 17 de noviembre de 1939". www.lexivox.org. Retrieved 10 March 2021.

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v t e Years in Bolivia (1825–present)
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21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

v t e 1939 in South America
Sovereign states	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Falkland Islands French Guiana South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands