| Álvaro García Linera | |
|---|---|
| Vice President of Bolivia | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 22, 2006 |
|
| President | Evo Morales |
| Preceded by | Carlos Mesa |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 19, 1962 Cochabamba, Bolivia |
| Political party | Movement for Socialism |
| Alma mater | National Autonomous University of Mexico |
| Occupation | Academic, Activist, Revolutionary, Political commentator |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Álvaro Marcelo García Linera (born October 19, 1962) is a Bolivian politician who has been Vice President of Bolivia since 2006.[1]
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He was born in Cochabamba and graduated from San Agustín High School. Then, he studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City and became a mathematician. Returning to his native Bolivia, he attempted to put some of his long-held socialist ideals to practice and joined the Katarist "Ponchos Rojos", a series of experimental, Marxist-inspired native communities in northwestern Bolivia. When this attempt at grass-roots politics failed to come to fruition, García Linera opted for a more radical approach. Alongside Felipe Quispe, he organized and worked in the insurgent Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army. After being caught destroying electrical distribution towers in rural La Paz, he was arrested and charged with insurrection and terrorism.
While imprisoned, he studied sociology. After his release he worked as a university professor, political analyst, and news commentator. He was a well known academic, known for his support of indigenous and left-wing political movements in South America (in spite of his upper-middle class upbringing and the fact that he is of Spanish descent). He wrote a monograph about the different political and social organizations that were a part of the political rise of the MAS and other indigenous factions, Sociología de los Movimientos Sociales en Bolivia (Sociology of Social Movements in Bolivia), which was published in 2005.[2]
Linera was elected vice president as the running mate to Evo Morales in the 2005 presidential elections. He is an advocate of nationalization of Bolivia's hydrocarbons industry.
In December 2010, Linera's offices created a database of the recent releases from the controversial whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.[3]
| Preceded by Carlos Mesa |
Vice President of Bolivia 2006- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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