A number of former dictators in Latin America later became
democratically-elected presidents. Who were they, and in what
countries?

---

Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 21 May 2004 13:56 PDT

My research indicates that only one former dictator in Latin America
later became a democratically-elected president.  Some others ran for
the presidency but lost.  (The son of a former dictator was recently
elected president, but that's a little different.)

Would this information be a sufficient answer?

---

Clarification of Question by demidec-ga on 21 May 2004 20:05 PDT

All this sounds like great info. Thanks, I'll look forward to it.

Hello demidec,

The former dictator who later became a democratically-elected
president was Hugo Banzer in Bolivia.  Unsuccessful candidates have
been Efrain Rios Montt in Guatemala and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

"Welcome Back, Seņor Presidente", by Luciano D'Orazio
Flak Magazine
http://flakmag.com/opinion/exdictator.html

Rios Montt did become the president of the legislature prior to his
unsuccessful run for the presidency.

"Feeding the Hand that Bit You: Voting for Ex-Authoritarian Rulers
in Russia and Bolivia", by Amber Seligson and Joshua A. Tucker (Draft
Version 2.1, Aug. 26, 2002) [at "Introduction", page 3]
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~jtucker/Seligson_Tucker_APSA_2002.pdf

The former dictator's son who was recently elected president is Martin
Torrijos in Panama.

"Dictator's son wins Panama poll"
CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/05/02/panama.election.ap/

- justaskscott


I searched for the following terms, in various combinations, on Google:

"former dictator"
ex-dictator
son
panama
"elected president"
torrijos
montt
banzer
bolivia
ortega

---

Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 24 May 2004 09:03 PDT

You're absolutely correct about General Manuel Odria in Peru.  The
sources I looked at focused on more recent history, and didn't mention
that earlier instance.  It appears that Juan Peron in Argentina is
another example.  Conceivably there are others; when I have some free
time -- perhaps later this week -- I'll look into that (out of
curiosity, even if you're satisfied already).  Sorry about overlooking
these cases originally.

Thank you for your assistance with this... though you may have missed
a couple, based on my research, such as General Manuel Odria in Peru.