was accepted and a new provisional president was found in Lidia Gueiler, then leader of the lower congressional house. As interim President, Gueiler was entrusted with the task of conducting new elections, which were held on 29 June 1980. Overthrown in bloody coup Before the winners could take their parliamentary seats, however, Gueiler herself was overthrown in a bloody right-wing military coup by her cousin, General Luis García Meza Tejada. Gueiler then left the country, and lived in France until the fall of the dictatorship in 1982. Later diplomatic and other activities Later, she served her country mostly in the diplomatic sphere, having been appointed Bolivia's ambassador to first Colombia, then West Germany, and finally—after joining Jaime Paz's "Movimiento de Izquierda Revolucionaria"—to Venezuela (1989). She retired from public life in the mid-1990s. Gueiler was involved in various Bolivian feminist organizations throughout her life. She opposed the United States-backed war on drugs in Latin America, particularly the so-called Plan Colombia. In addition, she authored two books, publishing La mujer y la revolución ("The woman and the revolution") in 1960 and her autobiography, Mi pasión de lideresa ("My passion as a leader"), in 2000. She supported the candidacy of Evo Morales in the 2005 election. In June 2009, Gueiler accepted the role of honorary president of the Human Rights Foundation in Bolivia. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Order of the Condor of the Andes Grand Cross and the 1979 United Nations Woman of the Year award. Death On 9 May 2011, Gueiler died in La Paz following a long illness. She was 89 years old. See also Cabinet of Lidia Gueiler References External links Newspaper clippings about Lidia Gueiler 1921 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Bolivian politicians 20th-century Bolivian women politicians 20th-century Bolivian women writers 21st-century Bolivian women writers Ambassadors of Bolivia to Colombia Ambassadors of Bolivia to Venezuela Ambassadors of Bolivia to West Germany Bolivian exiles Bolivian feminists Bolivian people of German descent Bolivian women diplomats Bolivian women writers Female heads of state Leaders ousted by a coup Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Bolivia) Members of the Senate of Bolivia People from Cochabamba Presidents of Bolivia Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Bolivia) Revolutionary Left Front (Bolivia) politicians Revolutionary Nationalist Movement politicians Bolivian woman ambassadors Women legislative speakers