José María Linares

José María Linares Lizarazu (10 July 1808 – 23 October 1861) was a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as the 13th president of Bolivia from 1857 to 1861. Commencing his political career at a young age, he emerged as a fervent advocate of free trade, liberalism, the exploitation of silver mines, and the establishment of a monopoly on mercury to facilitate the latter objective.

Linares served as Minister of the Interior and Foreign Relations in the third cabinet of José Miguel de Velasco, but due to differences with the "Restoration" movement, he had to go into exile in Spain. In 1848, he returned to his country and became the President of the Congress. He defended President Velasco against Manuel Isidoro Belzu, and after Velasco's fall, he fled to Argentina and inspired various conspiracies against Belzu.

In 1857, he overthrew President Jorge Córdova, Belzu's son-in-law, and assumed the presidency. Linares, Bolivia's first civilian president, declared himself dictator in 1858 and confronted the power of the clergy and the military through a reform program. He repressed several uprising attempts, and in 1861, he was deposed by his own supporters and replaced by a triumvirate that sentenced him to exile. The former president fled to Chile, where he died shortly after his exile. Provided by Wikipedia