The plaza has long been a politically important space. It was a strategic location during the three-day April insurrection that won the 1952 Revolution. Following the dictatorship years of 1971–82, elected president Hernán Siles Suazo came to the Plaza first upon returning from exile. In the 2003 Gas War, the plaza was the central gathering place for crowds opposing the privatization of Bolivia's gas resources and demanding the resignation of President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada.