Juan José Torres González (5 March 1920 – 2 June 1976) was a Bolivian socialist politician and military leader who served as the 50th president of Bolivia from 1970 to 1971, when he was ousted in a coup that resulted in the dictatorship of Hugo Banzer.

Worn out by 13 grueling months in office, Ovando agreed to leave the presidency in the hands of his friend, general Torres, the hero of the moment.

Though most military leaders throughout Latin American history have been associated with right-wing politics, Torres - like his contemporaries Juan Velasco in Peru and Omar Torrijos in Panama - was decidedly left wing.

[clarification needed] Torres also allowed the legendary (and Trotskyst-oriented) labor leader, Juan Lechín, to resume his post as head of the Central Obrera Boliviana/Bolivian Workers' Union (COB) and to operate without a single restraint.

In his first speech as Head of State, he specified the direction of his government: "We will promote the alliance of the armed forces with the people and build nationality on four pillars: workers, academics, peasants and the military.

It establishes a People's Assembly, similar to a soviet, which meets in Parliament; expropriates the sugar industry; begins negotiations with the Chilean government of Salvador Allende in order to obtain Bolivian access to the sea; amnesty for former rebels who were not murdered after their capture (including Régis Debray); increase the university budget and call for the closure of the United States Strategic Communications Centre (known as Guantanamito).

US Ambassador Ernest V. Siracusa (who participated in the coup d'état against Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954, then was expelled from Peru in 1968, accused of being a CIA man) ordered him to change his policy, threatening him with financial blockage.

[6] After less than a year in power, Torres was overthrown in a bloody coup d'état, which was led by the colonel Hugo Banzer and supported by the Brazilian military regime.

His assassination was most likely directly carried out by right-wing death squads associated with the Videla government, but also — it has been argued — with the acquiescence of Hugo Banzer and as part of the broader US-backed Operation Condor.