Education
Lidia Gueiler studied at the American Institute of Cochabamba, where she obtained the degree of the accountant.
Lidia Gueiler studied at the American Institute of Cochabamba, where she obtained the degree of the accountant.
Her political life began in the Revolutionary Nationalistic Movement (MNR), where she served from 1948. Lidia took part in the Revolution of 1952, fighting for the equality of rights and opportunities.
She traveled to West Germany, Colombia and Venezuela as a diplomat. She was elected deputy from 1956 to 1964, and in 1979 was president of the Chamber of Deputies.
Few years later Lidia lived in exile in Paris and with the return of democracy, in late 1982, she was appointed ambassador in Colombia and in 1989 was Senator of Cochabamba. As a parliamentarian Gueiler was appointed president of the Human Rights Commission of the Senate, president of the Subcommittee of Social Policy, Health and Rural Affairs. From 1990 to 1993 she was ambassador to Venezuela.
In 1993 Lidia Gueiler retired to private life.
Gueiler was involved in various Bolivian feminist organizations throughout her life. She opposed the United States-backed war on drugs in Latin America, particularly the so-called Plan Colombia. In addition, she authored two books, publishing La mujer y la revolución ("The woman and the revolution") in 1960 and her autobiography, Mi pasión de lidereza ("My passion as a leader"), in 2000. She supported the candidacy of Evo Morales in the 2005 election.
In June 2009, Gueiler accepted the role of honorary president of the Human Rights Foundation in Bolivia.
