Bolivia: Steve Canyon of the Andes

René Barrientos, 45, the air force general who bosses Bolivia’s revolutionary junta, is a sort of Steve Canyon of the Andes — handsome, dashing, and almost too lucky to be true. Since 1962, he has survived seven assassination at tempts: four by gunfire, three by bombs. Last year, just after President Victor Paz Estenssoro refused to accept Barrientos as a vice-presidential candidate, an assailant’s bullet ricocheted off the U.S. pilot wings on the general’s jacket, causing a slight wound. The incident made Barrientos such a hero that Paz was forced to accept him as a running mate. Last week Bolivians witnessed a rerun.

Barrientos now wants to be Bolivia’s duly elected President, but faces opposition because of his reluctance to abide by the constitution and resign as head of the junta six months before the Sept. 26 elections. One night as he was driving to Cochabamba, a gunman on a motorcycle roared out of the darkness, pumping bullets into the general’s Jeep. Barrientos’ bulletproof vest, say his aides, stopped two of the slugs; a third hit him in the left buttock. In no time at all, political and nonpolitical friends were beating a path to his bedside. A fellow general who had planned to challenge Barrientos’ candidacy hastily withdrew. Other powerful officers rallied round, and the major political parties accepted a “temporary postponement” of the elections until Oct. 31.

Some cynics claim that Barrientos has staged most of the assassination attempts himself. On the other hand, he is noted for risking his life. A U.S.-trained flyer, he burst on the scene three years ago after two recruits died in practice jumps with malfunctioning parachutes. When newspapers thundered about inferior equipment, Air Force Chief Barrientos invited news men to pick a chute from the same batch that the recruits had used. He then bailed out over La Paz airport. The whole country cheered his courage, and before long he was making speeches calling for reform and denouncing Bolivia’s politicians. Then the assassination attempts began. One bomb exploded in his auto (he was elsewhere), another went off under his bed (he was not home), a Molotov cocktail was hurled at his bedroom window (it fell short).

Barrientos was widely hailed for overthrowing Paz Estenssoro’s increasingly heavy-handed regime last November. How well he can run the country is another matter. The nationalized mines are losing $6,000,000 annually; workers are threatening to strike for higher wages. Even so, he remains Bolivia’s most popular figure. Many of his Cabinet meetings are held at 5 a.m. to give him time to fly off to the backlands for a confetti-splashed fiesta and political rally with the campesinos.