Eduardo Arze Quiroga

Eduardo Arze Quiroga (6 January 1907 – 1 August 1989 ) was a Bolivian scholar, journalist, politician, and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1960 to 1962 in the second cabinet of Víctor Paz Estenssoro. Prior to that, he served in various diplomatic offices in the governments of Enrique Peñaranda and Gualberto Villarroel.

Early life Eduardo Arze Quiroga was born on 6 January 1907 in Cochabamba, the son of Enrique Arze and Rita Quiroga. He studied Law at University of San Simón, graduating in 1927 before later studying at the Faculty of Social and Political Science of the University of Rome. Participating as a seargeant in the Chaco War, he was imprisoned for two years in Campo Grande in 1933.

Upon his return to Bolivia, Arze Quiroga emerged as a prominent leader of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement. He played a prominent role during the transition of the National Revolution which followed the annulment of those elections. From 1952 to 1954 he served as the Bolivian ambassador to the United Nations. He briefly returned to Bolivia in 1955 when he was named Rector of the Higher University of San Simón but returned to diplomacy as Ambassador to Colombia between 1957 and 1959.

Finally, by Presidential Decree on 6 August 1960, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by President Víctor Paz Estenssoro. During his tenure, Arze Quiroga attended several international meetings and signed numerous agreements such as the Cultural Exchange Agreement with Czechoslovakia on 23 January 1961, the Economic Cooperation Agreement with Colombia on 2 August 1961, and the Dual Nationality Agreement with Spain on 12 October 1961.

Having fulfilled his functions, Arze Quiroga resigned from his post as Foreign Minister on 8 January 1962 and was subsequently named Ambassador to Argentina until 1964. That year, he withdrew from public positions as a result of the coup d'état which ousted the MNR from power in November. In 1973 he joined the Bolivian Academy of History, through presenting his thesis on the political philosophy of Daniel Salamanca, and began teaching History at Higher University of San Andrés in La Paz.

When Víctor Paz Estenssoro returned to office in 1985, he entrusted Arze Quiroga as Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Bolivia in Brazil. He remained in that diplomatic position for about two years.

Arze Quiroga died in La Paz in 1989.

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