Manfred Reyes Villa

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Manfred Reyes Villa (1954) is a Bolivian politician, who was mayor of Cochabamba four times and ran for presidency in 2002 against Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. He founded and leads the Nueva Fuerza Republicana (New Republican Force) political party.

In 2002, Reyes Villa led the polls (with circa 41%) during the initial months of the presidential race, but lost votes and ended up in third place. Lozada was eventually elected, but was forced to resign the next year due to massive riots and demonstrations in major cities of Bolivia.

After the resignation of Carlos Mesa, Lozada's successor, Reyes-Villa looked poised to run for president in the December 4, 2005 elections. However, after a recommendation by David Greenlee, the American ambassador to Bolivia, he rallied behind centre-right candidate Jorge Quiroga.

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