candidacy in the 1966 Presidential election although René Barrientos of the ruling faction won easily. With Congress closed in 1969 the FSB descended into in-fighting, with a leftist FSB-Izquierda (FBSI) splitting off in 1970. Bolivia did not have another election until the late 1970s. With its leadership back in the hands of Mario Gutiérrez, FSB supported (as did the MNR) the 1971 military coup that brought to power General Hugo Banzer. Indeed, Gutiérrez served Banzer as his Minister of Foreign Relations for many years. At this point FSB shifted its position somewhat, becoming more of a pro-military conservative party. The party was excluded from government in 1974, however, when Banzer decided to establish a purely military regime without political parties. The FBSI, meanwhile, which had opposed Banzer's coup, was repressed by the new government. The FSB's ranks were further diluted when various factions split off from it in the aftermath of the Banzer dictatorship and the electoral upheavals of the 1978-80 period. Carlos Valverde Barberry eventually emerged as leader and was presidential candidate in 1980, but results were poor. Factionalism again dogged the movement and much of it was absorbed into the conservative Nationalist Democratic Action (founded by Banzer himself). The rump FSB again came to adopt more left-wing rhetoric as a party of opposition although it was eliminated from Congress at the 1989 election and gained no seats at the 1993 election. The FSB have returned to politics sporadically since then, and in 2002 Johnny Fernández's failed bid for the Presidency was jointly endorsed by Solidarity Civic Unity and the FSB. In the 2014 Presidential election they endorsed the candidacy of Christian Democratic Party representative Jorge Quiroga. See also Falangism in Latin America Bibliography Bernard, Jean-Pierre, "Bolivia", in J-P Bernard, S Cerqueira, H Neira, H Graillot, L F Manigat & P Gilhodès. 1973. Guide to the Political Parties of South America, Penguin Books, 1973 Laqueur, Walter. 1976. Fascism: A Reader's Guide, Penguin Books, 1976 Linklater, Magnus, Hilton, Isabel and Ascherson, Neal, The Fourth Reich: Klaus Barbie and the Neo-Fascist Connection, Hodder & Stoughton, 1984 References 1937 establishments in Bolivia Anti-communist parties Bolivian nationalism Conservative parties in Bolivia Falangist parties Far-right politics in Bolivia Nationalist parties in Bolivia Political parties established in 1937 Political parties in Bolivia Statism