José María Achá

Who was José María Achá?

José María de Achá Valiente was a military general and president of Bolivia. He served in the battles of the Peru-Bolivian Confederation and conspired against longtime dictator Manuel Belzu. Later, he was appointed Minister of war in the cabinet of another dictator, José María Linares. In that capacity, he led the 1861 coup d'état that toppled Linares. Originally he governed as head of Junta, and then as sole leader of the revolutionary government.

At first, Achá was quite popular by virtue of having ended the hated Linares' tyrannical rule. He extended a political amnesty, and legitimized his rule by winning the 1862 elections. Soon, however, he was plagued by rebellions, the bane of any Bolivian president during this chaotic period. At that point, Achá invoked a state of emergency and began to suppress civil liberties. In particular, he become unpopular as a result of the 1862 "Matanzas de Yáñez", when the Achá supporter and military governor of La Paz Province, Plácido Yáñez, massacred dozens of opposition figures, many of them from the pro-Belzu camp. Among those murdered was former president Jorge Córdova.