23 Facts About Adriana Salvatierra

Adriana Salvatierra Arriaza was born on 3 June 1989 and is a Bolivian political scientist and politician who served as president of the Senate in 2019.

At age twenty-nine, Salvatierra was the youngest legislator and third woman to hold the presidency of the Senate and was the youngest individual to ever exert presidential authority, albeit briefly in an acting capacity.

Adriana Salvatierra played a pivotal role in the 2019 Bolivian political crisis being the final ruling party authority in the presidential line of succession to resign from their post, paving the way for a two-day vacuum of power and the assumption of office of opposition senator Jeanine Anez.

Adriana Salvatierra's resignation was the subject of heavy controversy and debate, with some sectors of the Movement for Socialism regarding her as the primary driver of the party's fall from power in 2019.

Nonetheless, in the snap 2020 general elections, Adriana Salvatierra was presented as a candidate for member of the Chamber of Deputies but was disqualified from running by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.

Adriana Salvatierra was born on 3 June 1989 in Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Hugo Salvatierra and Luisa Herminia Arriaza.

Adriana Salvatierra's upbringing was heavily influenced by the political activities of her parents, both involved in left-wing advocacy in Bolivia and Chile.

Adriana Salvatierra's father, Hugo, was a candidate for mayor of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and prefect of the Santa Cruz Department before serving as minister of rural development under Evo Morales from 2006 to 2007.

Adriana Salvatierra described her entrance into the MAS as a "natural" decision.

In 2008, Adriana Salvatierra joined the Southern Column, an urban youth organization established in Santa Cruz.

Adriana Salvatierra described its work as "an opportunity to build another image of the Santa Cruz youth, which was not from the Youth Union, nor the one that kicked peasants or burned down the headquarters of the Ethnic Peoples Center".

Adriana Salvatierra attended the Gabriel Rene Moreno Autonomous University, graduating in 2013 with a degree in political science and public administration, specializing in political analysis.

Adriana Salvatierra later completed a master's degree in human rights and democracy in Latin America in 2022 and as of that year, is employed at the Latin American Strategic Center for Geopolitics.

At her inauguration, Adriana Salvatierra highlighted the reform process spearheaded by the MAS since 2006 for having expanded the ability of women and youth to participate in politics.

However, at the time, Adriana Salvatierra was participating in a conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and so President of the Chamber of Deputies Victor Borda occupied the presidency.

On 24 January 2020, Adriana Salvatierra denied Copa's allegations, assuring that her resignation had been motivated not by personal reasons but by political ones.

Adriana Salvatierra went on to state that succeeding Morales as president would have constituted "not only disloyalty but an act of treason" and that even if she had, the social movements that protested Morales would not have allowed her to govern.

Shortly after her resignation, Adriana Salvatierra took refuge in the Mexican Embassy, which granted political asylum to over a dozen ruling party officials following Morales' removal.

Since such a vote had not occurred, some of her fellow assemblymen considered that Adriana Salvatierra was still president of the Senate and, therefore, the presidency of the State corresponded to her.

Notably, the argument was accepted that Adriana Salvatierra's resignation applied only to the presidency of the Senate and, consequently, she maintained her seat as a senator.

Adriana Salvatierra was selected to serve on the Constitution Commission, granting her a degree of control over the process of drafting a bill to call new elections.

Deputy Edgar Montano's justification was that the MAS had opted to nominate Adriana Salvatierra based on her merits to hold the position.

Shortly after completing her term in the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra faced expulsion from the MAS by the party's eastern wing.