José Manuel Inocencio Pando Solares (27 December 1849 – 17 June 1917) was a Bolivian soldier, politician and explorer. He was also the 25th President of Bolivia from 1899 to 1904. During his government, the Acre War (1899-1903) began, in which Bolivia clashed with Brazil. Early life Youth and studies Pando was born in the town of Luribay on December 27, 1848. His parents were Manuel Pando and Petrona Solares. He studied at the Colegio Seminario de La Paz and continued his studies at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) where he studied medicine, but only reached the sixth year before he abandoned it for a career in politics. At the age of twenty-three, Pando fought alongside the people of La Paz to overthrow the government of Mariano Melgarejo on January 15, 1871, after which he was incorporated into the Bolivian Army. Military career After overthrowing Melgarejo, Bolivian President Agustín Morales appointed Pando as his personal aide-de-camp in 1871. Pando and Morales had an excellent relationship which allowed for the former's career in the army to be propelled to new heights. However, on November 27, 1872, when Morales was assassinated by his nephew and also aide-de-camp, Federico Lafaye, a heartbroken Pando resigned from the position of assistant to the President of Bolivia. In 1876, after Hilarión Daza's deposition of President Tomas Frías, Pando retired to private life in his Luribay hacienda. However, the outbreak of the War of the Pacific called him back to arms. During the War of the Pacific, Pando contributed to the Bolivian Army when, in the midst of the war, he took steps to bring artillery pieces from the United States, a task that General Daza had entrusted to him. Pando fought in the Battle of Alto de la Alianza on May 26, 1880, where he was seriously wounded in the left arm and taken prisoner by the Chileans. He would be taken prisoner to Santiago in Chile. Upon his return to Bolivia, Pando led an artillery regiment until 1884. Explorer and adventurer Pando was one of the great explorers of Bolivia during the 19th century. Pando's explorations provided a large deal of knowledge and helped in the integration of Northern Bolivia, then known as the National Territory of Colonies (then a largely unknown and obscure part of the country). Today, this territory is composed of the departments of La Paz, Beni and Pando, the