Orlando Egüez
Headshot of Orlando Egüez
Official portrait, 2017
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from Beni circumscription 60
In office
18 January 2015 – 8 June 2019
SubstituteVerónica Téllez
Preceded byEinar Gozálves[lower-greek 1]
Succeeded byVerónica Téllez
Constituency
Personal details
Born
Orlando Egüez Algarañaz

(1974-03-04)4 March 1974
Riberalta, Beni, Bolivia
Died8 June 2019(2019-06-08) (aged 45)
La Paz, Bolivia
Cause of deathTerminal cancer
Political partyRevolutionary Nationalist Movement
RelativesCarmelo Lens (brother-in-law)
Alma materTechnical University of Beni
Occupation
  • Lawyer
  • politician

Orlando Egüez Algarañaz (4 March 1974 – 8 June 2019) was a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from Beni, representing circumscription 60 from 2015 until his death in 2019. A member of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement, Egüez practiced law in Riberalta before making the jump into politics. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in representation of the Democratic Unity coalition, he joined other members of his party in breaking away from that caucus once in office. Although the move garnered Egüez some high-up committee positions, a 2016 cancer diagnosis impeded his ability to legislate, and he died in office three years later.

Early life and career

Orlando Egüez was born on 4 March 1974 in Riberalta, Beni,[1] to a well-to-do family of some modest means.[2] He completed his secondary education in the city, attending the Nuestra Señora del Carmen School, from which he graduated in 1991. He later pursued university studies at the Technical University of Beni, where he graduated as a lawyer with a master's in criminal law.[1] Returning to Riberalta, Egüez established his own private practice and, according to his colleagues, would occasionally provide his services to less well-off clients without seeking financial compensation.[3]

Chamber of Deputies

Election

A member of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR), Egüez entered the political scene in 2014 when he was nominated to contest a seat in the Chamber of Deputies on behalf of Democratic Unity (UD), a broad opposition coalition made up of the National Unity Front, Social Democratic Movement, and local factions of the MNR led by Erik Morón.[2]

For UD, Egüez's rather rapid incursion onto the national stage represented a break in strategy—the alliance, for the most part, had hedged its bets on nominating well-known figures and experienced politicians to maximize parliamentary representation.[4] Far and away from that, Egüez's candidacy responded to personal interests; he had been invited to run by Beni's governor, Carmelo Lens, his brother-in-law. Lens would go on to accompany Egüez as his campaign manager, overseeing a successful race in which Egüez was elected to represent Beni's circumscription 60.[2][5]

Tenure

Shortly after taking office, Egüez joined other elected members of his party in breaking off from UD, establishing the MNR as its own caucus within the Chamber of Deputies. With the votes of the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP), the MNR was granted control over several powerful committees, with Egüez being selected to chair the Territorial Organization of the State Commission.[6] This de facto alliance—which both parties denied existed—translated into the departmental caucuses, where the votes of Egüez and his substitute tipped the scales in favor of MAS Senator Erwin Rivero, who was elected president of Beni's parliamentary delegation.[5][6]

Two years into his term, in 2016, Egüez was diagnosed with cancer, a disease he spent the duration of his term combating. During this time, he became active in promoting the expansion of medical access into less developed areas of the country. "Unfortunately, [the situation] is deplorable ... there is no oncology, there is no trained personnel, and ... in Beni, there is no [medical] service; we have to go to the capitals: Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and Sucre," he commented.[7] By mid-2019, Egüez's condition had become terminal;[1] he died from the disease in June of that year. His passing was commemorated with a minute of silence in the Chamber of Deputies, and he was laid to rest at a general cemetery in Beni the following day.[3] Egüez's substitute, Verónica Téllez, was sworn in to fill his vacant seat on 17 July.[8]

Commission assignments

  • Planning, Economic Policy, and Finance Commission
    • Financial, Monetary, and Insurance Policy Committee (Secretary: 2017–2018)[9]
  • Territorial Organization of the State and Autonomies Commission (President: 2015–2016)[10]
  • Government, Defense, and Armed Forces Commission
    • Fight Against Drug Trafficking Committee (2019)[11]
    • Public Security Committee (2016–2017)[12]
  • International Relations and Migrant Protection Commission
    • International Relations, Migrant Protection, and International Organizations Committee (2018–2019)[13]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Orlando Egüez
Year Office Party Alliance Votes Result Ref.
Total  % P.
2014 Deputy Revolutionary Nationalist Movement Democratic Unity 22,910 58.61% 1st Won [14]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orlando Egüez.

Notes

  1. ↑ Redistribution; circumscription 64.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 Pereyra, Omar (6 June 2019). "Parlamentario rinde homenaje a diputado Orlando Egüez Algarañaz por su calidez humana y labores políticas". eju! (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 203.
  3. 1 2 "Diputado Egüez pierde la batalla contra el cáncer". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. 8 June 2019. Archived from the original on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  4. ↑ Layme, Beatriz (15 July 2014). "UD apuesta por exlegisladores para hacerle frente al MAS". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 "El MNR niega contubernio con el MAS". La Palabra del Beni (in Spanish). Trinidad. 14 February 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via issuu.
  6. 1 2 Vacaflor, Nancy (4 February 2015). "El MNR divide a la oposición y se desmarca de Unidad Demócrata". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  7. ↑ Arteaga, Wara (24 November 2018). "Luchadores contra el cáncer se unen para dar batalla al miedo". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  8. ↑ Chamber of Deputies [@Diputados_Bol] (17 July 2019). "La Cámara de Diputados aprueba las credenciales de Verónica Teresa Téllez Camargo como diputada titular por el departamento de Beni" (Tweet) (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2023 – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Chamber of Deputies [@Diputados_Bol] (1 February 2017). "La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2017–2018" (Tweet) (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. ↑ "La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2015–2016". diputados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Chamber of Deputies. 29 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2019–2020". diptuados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Chamber of Deputies. 24 January 2019. Archived from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  12. ↑ Chamber of Deputies [@Diputados_Bol] (27 January 2016). "La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2016–2017" (Tweet) (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 23 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022 – via Twitter.
  13. ↑ "La Cámara de Diputados conformó sus 12 Comisiones y 37 Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2018–2019". diputados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Chamber of Deputies. 1 February 2018. Archived from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  14. ↑ "Elecciones Generales 2014 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2022.

Bibliography

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