Simon Bolivar (bo-lee´-var) was elected the first president; and Chuquisaca was made the capital under the name of Sucre. When General Bolivar arrived in the city of La Paz on August 18th, he was greeted with wild enthusiasm. He was inaugurated at Sucre in November; but resigned in January, 1826, to return to Lima (lee´-mah) in Peru.
There was no peace for the people of Bolivia yet, however. Troublous times followed, and finally came the war with Chile. This war arose over the collection of an export tax on nitrate. Chile sent troops to occupy Bolivian territory; and then Peru, linked to Bolivia by secret treaty, together with that country, declared war on Chile on April 5, 1879. Both Peru and Bolivia were entirely unprepared, and Chile was completely victorious in this war. As a result Bolivia lost what little coastline the country had previously possessed.
During the last thirty years internal dissensions in Bolivia have for the most part ceased. There was a brief time of trouble in 1898 over the question of the capital city. It had been the custom for the cities of Sucre, La Paz, Cochabamba (ko-chah-bahm´-bah), and Oruro (o-roo-ro) to take turns in being the seat of government. In December, 1898, however, the Bolivian Congress attempted to pass a law making Sucre the permanent residence of the president and cabinet. La Paz protested, and the people of the city rose in open revolt. On January 17, 1899, a battle was fought between the insurgents and the government forces. The insurgents were completely victorious. As a result, La Paz was made the real seat of government, although Sucre retains the name of capital. General Pando, (pahn´-do), commander of the revolutionary forces, was elected president. In 1903 a boundary dispute with Brazil over some rich rubber country was settled by the cession by Bolivia of a part of the province of Acre, (ah´-kray), in return for a cash payment of $10,000,000.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 5, No. 18, SERIAL No. 142 COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: PHOTOGRAPH BY E. M. NEWMAN
Bolivia is a centralized republic. Its government is representative in form, but to a great extent it is autocratic in effect. The Bolivian constitution was adopted on October 28, 1880, and is a model of its kind. The executive branch of the government consists of a president and two vice-presidents. They are elected by direct popular vote for a period of four years, and are ineligible for election for the next succeeding term. The president has a cabinet of six ministers: Foreign Relations and Worship, Treasury, Government and Promotion (Fomento), Justice and Industry, Public Instruction and Agriculture, War and Colonization.