Bolivian War of Independence The Bolivian war of independence began in 1809 with the establishment of the Government Juntas in Sucre and La Paz , after the Chuquisaca Revolution and La Paz revolution . Those Juntas were defeated shortly after , and the cities fell again under Spanish control . The May Revolution of 1810 ousted the viceroy in Buenos Aires , which established its own Junta . Buenos Aires sent three military campaigns to the Upper Peru , headed by Juan José Castelli , Manuel Belgrano and José Rondeau , but the royalists ultimately prevailed over each one . However , the conflict grew into a guerrilla war , the War of the Republiquetas , preventing the royalists from strengthening their presence . Simón Bolívar and Antonio José de Sucre defeated the royalists at northern South America , and Sucre led the campaign that defeated the royalists for good . Bolivian independence was proclaimed on August 6 of 1825 . The juntas of 1809 . During the Peninsular War which took place in Spain , Upper Peru ( today Bolivia ) closely followed the reports that arrived describing the rapidly evolving political situation in Spain , which led the Peninsula to near anarchy . The sense of uncertainty was heightened by the fact that news of the March 17 Mutiny of Aranjuez and the May 6 abdication of Ferdinand VII in favor of Joseph Bonaparte arrived within a month of each other , on August 21 and September 17 , respectively . In the confusion that followed , various junta s in Spain and Portuguese Princess Carlotta , sister of Ferdinand VII , in Brazil claimed authority over the Americas . On November 11 , the representative of the Junta of Seville , José Manuel de Goyeneche , arrived in Chuquisaca , after stopping in Buenos Aires , with instructions to secure Upper Peru ' s recognition of authority of the Seville Junta . He also brought with him a letter from Princess Carlotta requesting the recognition of her right to rule in her brother ' s absence . The President - Intendant Ramón García León de Pizarro , backed by the Archbishop of Chuquisaca Benito María de Moxó y Francolí , was inclined to recognize the Seville Junta , but the mostly Peninsular Audiencia of Charcas , in its function as a privy council for the President ( the " real acuerdo " ) , felt it would be hasty to recognize either one . A fist fight almost broke between the senior oidor and Goyeneche over the issue , but the " oidores " ' opinion prevailed . Over the next few weeks García León and Moxó became convinced that recognizing Carlotta might be the best way to preserve the unity of the empire , but this was unpopular with the majority of Upper Peruvians and the Audiencia . Over the next few months the President and the Archbishop became more unpopular . On May 26 , 1809 , the Audiencia " oidores " received rumors that García León de Pizarro planned to arrest them in order to recognize Carlotta . The Audiencia decided that the situation had become so anarchic both in Upper Peru and in the Peninsula , that Upper Peru needed to take the government into its own hands . It removed García León de Pizarro from office and transformed itself into a junta , which ruled in Fernando ' s name , just as cities and provinces had done in Spain a year earlier . A second junta was established in La Paz on July 16 by Criollos who took over the local barracks and deposed both the intendant and bishop of La Paz . The La Paz junta clearly broke with any authority in Spain and with the authorities in Buenos Aires . These two juntas failed to consolidate a solid following in all of Upper Peru and were defeated by October 1809 by two armies sent by the viceroys of Lima and Buenos Aires , José Fernando de Abascal and Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros . After Buenos Aires successfully established a junta in May 1810 , Upper Peru came under the control of the Viceroyalty of Peru and managed to fight off several attempts by to take over it militarily . The " republiquetas " . From 1810 to 1824 , the idea of independence was kept alive by six guerrilla bands that formed in the backcountry of Upper Peru . The areas they controlled are called " republiqueta s " ( " petty republics " ) in the historiography of Bolivia . The " republiquetas " were located in the Lake Titicaca region , Mizque , Vallegrande , Ayopaya , the countryside around Sucre , the southern region near today ' s Argentina and Santa Cruz de la Sierra . The " republiquetas " were led by caudillos whose power was based on their personality and ability to win military engagements . This allowed them to create quasi - states which attracted varied followers , ranging from political exiles of the main urban centers to cattle rustlers and other fringe members of Criollo and Mestizo society . These Criollo and Mestizo " republiquetas " often allied themselves with the local Indian communities , although it was not always possible to keep the Natives ' loyalty , since their own material and political interests often eclipsed the idea of regional independence . Ultimately the " republiquetas " never had the size nor organization to actually bring about the independence of Upper Peru , but instead maintained a fifteen - year stalemate with royalist regions , while holding off attempts by Buenos Aires to control the area . The areas of Upper Peru which remained under royalist control elected a representative to the Spanish Cortes , Mariano Rodríguez Olmedo , who served from May 4 , 1813 , to May 5 , 1814 . Rodríguez Olmedo was a conservative representative , signing the 1814 request , known as the ( " " Manifiesto de los Persas " " ) , by seventy Cortes delegates to Ferdinand VII to repeal the Spanish Constitution of 1812 . Independence consolidated . The fight for independence gained new impetus after the December 9 , 1824 , Battle of Ayacucho in which a combined army of 5 , 700 Gran Colombia n and Peruvian troops under the command of Antonio José de Sucre defeated the royalist army of 6 , 500 and captured its leader , José de la Serna . The Colombians and Peruvians , who had already liberated Ecuador and Peru , tipped the balance of power in favor of the independence forces . After the Battle of Ayacucho , the remaining royalist troops under the command of Pedro Antonio Olañeta — who was opposed to the Constitution and had rebelled in January 1824 against Viceroy La Serna and the liberal restoration of 1820 — surrendered after Olañeta died in Tumusla on April 2 , 1825 . Simón Bolívar , president of Gran Colombia and Peru at the time and Sucre ' s chief , was opposed to Upper Peruvian independence , but local leaders — both former royalists like Casimiro Olañeta , nephew of General Olañeta , and patriots — all supported it . Bolívar left the decision to Sucre , who went along with local sentiment . Sucre proclaimed Upper Peru ' s Declaration of Independence in the city which now bears his name on August 6 . A constituent congress renamed the country " Bolívar " , later changed to Bolívia , on August 11 , 1825 . From then on , local elites dominated the congress and although they supported Sucre ' s efforts , they chafed under the idea that a Gran Colombian army remained in the nation . After an attempt on his life , Sucre resigned the presidency of Bolivia in April 1828 and returned to Venezuela . The Bolivian Congress elected La Paz native Andrés de Santa Cruz the new president . Santa Cruz had been a former royalist officer , served under José de San Martín after 1821 and then under Sucre in Ecuador , and had a short term as president of Peru from 1826 to 1827 . Santa Cruz arrived in Bolivia in May 1829 and assumed office . The government was now fully in the hands of locals , opening a new , though equally troubled , era in Bolivian history .