Eduardo Rodríguez

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Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé

79th President of Bolivia
In office June 9, 2005 – January 22, 2006
Preceded by	Carlos Mesa
Succeeded by	Evo Morales

Born	March 02, 1956 (age 51) Cochabamba
Political party	no party affiliation
Spouse	Fanny Elena Arguedas

Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé (born March 2, 1956) is a former president of Bolivia; prior to that appointment he was the chief justice of the Supreme Court.

In 2005, a political crisis caused by popular unrest with protesters demanding the re-nationalization of the natural gas industry (which was privatized under the Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada Administration) led former president Carlos Mesa to offer his resignation to Congress. After Hormando Vaca Diez and Mario Cossío, presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, respectively, declined the post, Rodríguez — as head of the judiciary and fourth in the line of succession — became the country's new president on June 10, 2005. His inauguration was welcomed by protestors, who saw Rodríguez as one of the few national figures not involved in previous political troubles.

Born in Cochabamba in 1956, Rodríguez is a lawyer and holds a master's degree in public administration. He studied at San Agustin High School, one of the best known and highly regarded high schools in Bolivia; later he studied law at the Universidad Mayor de San Simón in Cochabamba and obtained his Master of Public Administration at Harvard University in the United States.

Rodríguez's time in office ended with the inauguration of Evo Morales in January 2006, following the victory of Morales in the presidential election of the previous month.