Pablo Busch
Paul Erich "Pablo" Busch Wiesener was a German-born Bolivian explorer, physician, and politician. He served as subprefect of Ñuflo de Chávez Province from 1924 to 1925 and was the father of Germán Busch, the president of Bolivia from 1937 to 1939.
Born in Königsaue and educated as a surgeon, Busch emigrated from Imperial Germany to during the Amazon rubber boom. He was a shareholder and branch manager of the German-run trading company Zeller & Co., and made several medical expeditions along the Amazon and its tributaries. Busch led a nomadic lifestyle, with a presence in various communities in Beni and Santa Cruz. He started and abandoned multiple families and left many descendants throughout his lifetime.
During the Acre War, Busch lent logistical support to the Bolivian expeditionary force commanded by President José Manuel Pando. He gained recognition for his anti-blockade actions against Brazilian separatists. A member of the Republican Party, he was subprefect of the Ñuflo de Chávez Province. His imposition of order amid rampant banditry gave him a reputation for ruthlessness across the department.
Busch reconnected with his son Germán in 1937 and was a trusted member of the president's administration. Historians partially attribute his influence to improved Bolivian–German relations during this time. Busch was caught in Germany during the outbreak of World War II and was interned by the United Kingdom after the conflict's conclusion. Bolivian diplomatic efforts secured his repatriation, and he died in Portachuelo in 1950.
Background and early life
Origins and family background
Paul Busch was born on 4 November 1867 in Königsaue, an agrarian settlement in the fertile Magdeburg Börde, in what is now the Bördeland Municipality of Saxony-Anhalt. His father, Ferdinand Busch, was Kapellmeister of, the Lutheran church in neighboring Eickendorf, and taught music and mathematics there and in the adjacent villages. His mother was Bertha Wiesener, and he was one of between four and seven siblings.Of his three known brothers, only one, Georg, accompanied Busch abroad. He moved to Bolivia in 1906, where he captained a steamboat that traversed the Mamoré River in the employ of his brother's company. After four years, he returned to Germany to work in Neumünster. Another brother, Wilhelm, studied philology in Berlin and spent his life as a school professor. Little is known of "Juan"a translation of either Johann, Johannes, or Hansthe presumed eldest brother. An accountant and merchant, oral history states that he founded a brewery.
Education and emigration
Busch completed his primary education in Eickendorf and attended secondary in neighboring Magdeburg. He graduated as a physician in Halle an der Saale and completed specialist medical training at several German institutes. He received a doctorate in surgery with a specialization in tropical diseases from a university in Berlin. Writer Carlos Montenegro states that Busch was "little more than in his mid-adolescence" by the time he completed his university studies.In 1890, at age 23, Busch immigrated to Bolivia to seek a career in education. The exact motives for his departure are unclear. Historian Delia Heinrich states that he was forced into exile due to his anti-monarchist views. Busch booked passage on the Hamburg America Line and made port in Buenos Aires. From there, he traveled by land through the northern Argentine trail, passing the cities of Rosario, Santa Fe, and Santiago del Estero toward the Bolivian frontier. En route, he was attacked by bandits but fought off his attackers. In a tale recounted by historian Mario Gabriel Hollweg, Busch fractured one bandit's skull with his cane and delivered the other to the police himself.
Presence in Bolivia
Business ventures and medical practice
Upon his arrival in Bolivia, Busch settled in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a city isolated from the but which benefited from the flourishing rubber boom. There, Busch developed a close friendship with Wálter Villinger, a compatriot from Biberach an der Riß in Baden, who invited him to enter business with one Emilio Zeller. A wholesaler who emigrated from Baden around the 1880s, Zeller had established himself as the largest industrialist in the. His joint trading company primarily dealt in the import-export trade but had a hand in several industries and operated a sizeable fleet of steamboats. Villinger and Busch's involvement with Zeller gave rise to Zeller, Villinger & Co., with Busch as one of the firm's main shareholders.Over the following years, Busch navigated the many tributaries of the Amazon basin, which connected isolated communities to the major eastern population centers. He attendedoften pro bonoto the medical needs of local indigenous tribes. According to Hollweg, his penchant for accurate diagnoses, efficient treatments, and therapeutic accomplishments led some to label him a "witch or curandero". Between 1893 and 1895, Busch settled in Trinidad, Beni, where he practiced medicine and managed the branch office of his partners' firm. However, dissatisfaction with sedentary life spurred him to move on. For the next eight years, Busch lived as a semi-nomad. His recurrent medical expeditions and business ventures on behalf of Zeller led him to frequent several riverside communities in the departments of Beni and Santa Cruz, especially Baures, the site of his trade office, and San Javier, where he owned a residence.
Busch supported the Bolivian camp during the Acre conflict, between 1899 and 1903. The dispute centered around armed attempts by separatist Brazilian filibusters to seize control of Bolivia's rubber-rich. Bolivian forces drew sizable volunteer support from German expats, many of whom were employed by corporations operating in the region. Busch put his steamboat at the service of the Bolivian expedition, supplying food and ammunition. His successful efforts in breaking through the separatist blockade, wherein he was nearly taken prisoner, earned him a letter of recognition from President José Manuel Pando, who commanded Bolivian troops in the field.
Later pursuits and enterprises
In 1904, Busch relocated to Baures in Iténez Province, where he worked as branch manager of Zeller & Co., whose local office had become the town's largest trading house. Here, in 1909, he co-founded the second publishing company in Beni using a printing press imported from Germany. It published El Porvenir, the department's only newspaper outside of Trinidad.During this time, Busch continued his routine river expeditions. In 1908, while navigating either the Mamoré or Iténez River, his vessel was ambushed by a Cayubaba tribe. The attack left Busch gravely wounded in the stomach, but he managed to make port in before being transferred to Trinidad. A local doctor removed an arrow shaft from his abdomen but could not extract the point lodged in his vertebra. In Baures on 23 July, Busch signed his final will and testament.
Busch elected to seek treatment in his native Germany. He was transported by river from Trinidad to the transatlantic port of Belém do Pará and spent thirty days aboard a German steamship bound for Hamburg. There, Busch underwent several successful operations, where it was shown that he had suffered seven gastrointestinal perforations. He spent the next few years in convalescence in Germany, where medical expenses forced him to sell off his stocks in Zeller & Co.
Busch reentered Beni by way of the Madeira and Mamoré rivers in either 1910 or 1911. He established a small enterprise selling imported hardware, but the venture fell through. He spent short stints in the hamlets of Yaguarú and El Puente in Guarayos Province and practiced medicine among the indigenous peoples of the surrounding Franciscan missions. From there, Busch moved to the Ñuflo de Chávez Province. He settled permanently in Concepción and returned to Zeller & Co. as an advisor and physician for the local branch. During this time, Busch also worked for the British firms Anglo-Bolivian Rubber Co. and Trading Co. Ltda.
Political activities
Beginning around 1918, it became common for prominent Germans in Santa Cruz to acquire Bolivian citizenship and participate in local government. Busch served as chief physician in the Public Health Service of Concepción. When a 1920 coup d'état in La Paz unseated the reigning Liberal government and installed the Republicans, Busch joined the party, attracted by its populist platform. The new government faced constant opposition from the deposed Liberals and operated under a state of exception for several years. The province of Ñuflo de Chávez had a similar political situation, as well as rampant banditry. To quell the unrest, the administration of Bautista Saavedra named Busch subprefect in June 1924. Previous authoritiesincluding César Banzer, a personal friend of Buschhad all struggled to pacify the province.During his term, Busch became known as a harsh authority for the "severe methods" applied to bring order to the province. His efforts, says historian Robert Brockmann, were consistently opposed by the Liberals, who "suffered first-hand the harshness of selective kindness". Busch led a relentless campaign to stamp out banditry and apprehend the outlaw Carmelo Hurtado, who had gained a reputation as a "romantic brigand" and became a popular folk hero among the people. According to Brockmann, in the conflict between Busch and Hurtado, "it is impossible to separate fiction from reality". One account tells of Busch confronting Hurtado in an armed skirmish. The bandit supposedly had the chance to kill Busch but chose to spare him because "he treated the poor for free". By the end of his term, the inhabitants of Concepción were on the verge of rebellion and his reputation for ruthlessness reached as far as Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Busch was dismissed on 6 October 1925 after sixteen months in office.