Manuel Isidoro Belzu Humérez (4 April 1808 – 27 March 1865) was a Bolivian military officer and statesman[2] who served as the 11th president of Bolivia from 1848 to 1855.

[5] However, Belzu admired the heroes of the Spanish American wars of independence such as Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín and hoped to emulate them.

[7] Assigned as garrison commander to Tarija, where Francisco Burdett O'Connor was military governor at the time, Belzu married "up" by wedding a beautiful and intellectual Argentine lady, Juana Manuela Gorriti, who resided there with her family.

[9][10] Belzu's political stance became more populist as he embraced his mestizo heritage, railed against the power of the "white" oligarchy,[3] and vowed to advance the cause of the poor and the Indian should he come to the presidency.

[12] By the end of the year, Belzu had destroyed the opposition (both Ballivián and Velasco) and consolidated his power as the sole de facto president of Bolivia.

Belzu's protectionist economic policies were opposed by Great Britain and the United States, and isolated Bolivia from the global economy and ongoing intellectual trends.

Although popular with the masses due to his statist policies (contrary to prevailing notions), Belzu never lacked enemies among the powerful, whose interests he threatened.

He barely survived a well-planned assassination attempt in Sucre, carried out by Agustin Morales, then an obscure mid-ranking officer but one who would later become president.

A friend persuaded him to continue on outside the usual promenade, where they met some persons riding on horseback, upon the report of whose pistols Belzu fell, three balls having entered his head.

The plan was well laid, and so sure were the intended murderers that his days were ended, they rode off, leaving him on the ground, shouting “viva Ballivián,” an ex-president, who at that time was known to be lingering along the boundary line between Bolivia and the Argentine republic.

The latter was duly elected over José María Linares (perhaps with the help of at least some degree of official fraud), and for two years ruled Bolivia as a virtual proxy of the powerful former president.

Having seized power only in December 1864, less than a month later Melgarejo clashed with rebel forces in Tacaquira, located in the southern area of the Chuquisaca Department, on January 24, 1865.

The rebels would win this encounter, facing government troops again in a bigger battle on the banks of the Oscara River on February 3 and ultimately retreating.

[3][19] According to legend, when Melgarejo's presence was known, a crowd gathered in the Plaza Murillo, located in front of the Bolivian Government Palace, cheering Belzu's name.