Samuel Doria Medina | |
---|---|
![]() Doria Medina in 2020 | |
President of the National Unity Front | |
In office 12 December 2003 –15 December 2021 | |
Preceded by | Party established |
Succeeded by | Elizabeth Reyes [1] |
Minister of Planning and Coordination | |
In office 9 August 1991 –6 August 1993 | |
President | Jaime Paz Zamora |
Preceded by | Luis Enrique García Rodríguez |
Succeeded by | Office abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza 4 December 1958 La Paz,Bolivia |
Political party | National Unity Front (2003–present) |
Other political affiliations | Revolutionary Left Movement (1991–2001) |
Spouse | Nidia Monje Postigo |
Children | 3 |
Education | London School of Economics |
Website | samuel |
Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza (born 4 December 1958) is a Bolivian politician and former businessman. From 1987 until 2014 he was the president and main shareholder in SOBOCE,the largest cement manufacturer in Bolivia. [2]
Samuel Doria Medina was born on 4 December 1958 in La Paz at the Virgen de Copacabana Clinic on 20th Avenue. [3] He graduated high school at the Nuestra Señora de Luján School,a Marist Brothers school,where in 1976 he witnessed the Argentine coup d'etat in Luján. [4] He then studied economics and business administration at Universidad Católica Boliviana, [5] and then earned his master's in economics at Arizona State University in the United States [6] and his PhD in economics with a speciality in public finance from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom. [7] From a young age he was active in politics,joining the Movement of the Revolutionary Left (MIR). [8]
Apart from cement,Doria Medina operates hotel chains and holds the Bolivian franchise for Burger King. [9]
In the 1990s,Doria Medina served as minister of planning during the presidency of Jaime Paz Zamora. [10]
He is the leader of the National Unity Front and represented the party alongside Carlos Fernando Dabdoub Arrien in the December 2005 presidential election. [11] In that election,Doria Medina finished 3rd with 7.8% of the national vote. [11] He ran again in the 2009 elections and won 5.65% of the vote. [12] Doria Medina ran once again in the 2014 elections;coming out second with 25.1% of the vote. [13] He ran again for president in the 2025 elections but placed third in the first round and failed to advance to the runoff. [14]
He has sought to position himself and his party as a moderate third force in Bolivian politics. [15]
Doria Medina married Nidia Monje Postigo in 1983 and has six children. [16]
On 21 January 2005,Medina was travelling aboard a Cessna 208 Caravan,operated by Línea Aérea Amaszonas, [17] that crashed into the Huaricollo Mountain Range,near the Colquiri mine. All eleven occupants on board the aircraft survived the accident,though many were injured. [18]