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When Lieut. Colonel Busch grabbed power two years ago, grabby Señor Foianini went along, became last year Minister of Mines and Petroleum in Germán Busch's Cabinet. First Busch acts were to cancel wartime censorship, announce his intention to hold elections, introduce civilians to his Cabinet. But the next year press censorship was made more rigorous, extremist agitation was outlawed. In November groups of more than three were forbidden to congregate on the streets of La Paz (pop. 142,547). When dormant political parties recently began to stir restlessly, President Busch enlarged the Senate from 16 to 24 members, called elections to be held May 4.
Coup.
Two months ago President Busch flew from Army post to Army post throughout Bolivia. Suspicious opposition parties organized in a united front, demanded that elections be free of Government interference. At 11 p. m. one night, a week before the election, President Busch called a Cabinet meeting in La Paz, announced his dictatorship, refused to accept resignations. At 1 a. m. Cabinet officers went home, leaving the President and Minister Foianini to scribble out a program for the first classically totalitarian State in the Western Hemisphere.* At 6 a. m. they completed a proclamation not only abolishing the Senate, Chamber of Deputies, the Constitution, all courts, all legal codes, but establishing a dictatorship over Bolivian political, financial and social life. They denied, however, any connection with the Rome-Berlin Axis. At 10:30 the proclamation was released. The public was more apathetic than surprised.
Tin.
Main U. S. interest in Bolivia is still tin. The U. S. imports about 45% of the world's tin, has no mines in her own boundaries, a small one in Alaska. Basic war material, indispensable for the manufacture of bearings, tin travels far to reach its biggest market. There are big smelters in the Malay Peninsula, in The Netherlands and Great Britain, but the small smelters of the U. S. refine only a minute proportion, and Bolivian tin reaches the U. S. after a trip to Britain. Facing a possible war shortage, Bolivian tin has figured largely in recent proposals to barter surplus U. S. commodities for war materials.
Two days after his coup Dictator Germán Busch solemnly denied that his regime was totalitarian. His secretary cabled U. S. mining men that elections would be held soon.
*But less formalized one-man or one-clique rule runs another seven of the 16 South and Central American States.