Sanchez de Lozada Bustamente, Gonzalo (1930- )

Bolivian president 1993-97 and 2002-03. His governance emphasized free-market economic policies, with privatization high on the political agenda, but his economic policies met with some labour unrest, particularly in 1995, with the eruption of violent protests and strikes. Such problems were later superseded by cocaine-related problems in the Chapare region.

Sanchez de Lozada was leader of the centrist Nationalist Revolutionary Movement (MNR). His political appeal among the urban population was bolstered by that of his Aymara vice president Victor Hugo Cárdenas, who had strong appeal among the native Indian peoples.