The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement led a far-reaching revolution in 1952 and ruled the country, in its first incarnation, until being overthrown by a 1964 military coup. Siles (president from 1956 to 1960) and Paz Estenssoro (president from 1952–56 and 1960–64) were the top leaders of that Revolutionary period, establishing the universal vote, nationalizing the tin mines, and instituting an extensive program of land distribution (agrarian reform). During this time, many of the old elitist parties that had previously dominated Bolivian politics either disappeared or faded into irrelevance. This left the MNR in the center of the Bolivian political spectrum.

Source: Wikipedia, published under the GNU FDL. Retrieved 2014-03-03


More reading about The Bolivian Revolution at
www.latinamericanstudies.org
www.sjsu.edu