Cover: © 2019 Gobierno Autónomo Municipal de Cochabamba
IDENTITIES
The 2012 census revealed that 41 percent of Bolivians self-identified as belonging to an indigenous group, a figure that caused controversy and confusion when compared with the 2001 census in which 58 percent of the population identified as such. The figure from the 2012 census was a surprise because the creation of the plurinational state in 2009 and the government’s official recognition of 36 indigenous groups seemed to mark a new beginning where Bolivia embraced its diversity after centuries of colonial domination and assimilation. Reasons for the drop in indigenous self-identification could be attributed to the way the census was framed, the lack of a mestizo category, a resurgence of racism, social changes, or some combination of all of these factors. Indeed, identity is an incredibly complex concept, and a census wouldn’t be able to reflect that accurately – especially in Bolivia, where identities are shifting and are constantly being reinvented and imposed by a dominant group.
The word itself, ‘indigenous’, may seem harmless enough and has been used by the United Nations since the 1970s to help identify and protect the rights of Bolivia’s indigenous peoples. But for Carlos Macusaya, an indianista-katarista thinker and member of the Jiccha collective, the use of the word ‘indigenous’ comes with a price. According to Macusaya, the word represents ‘a colonial category used to name an undifferentiated population subject to colonisation.’ Macusaya also points out that South American countries only started to recognise and adopt indigenous policies in the 1990s, when they started to come with international funding.
If you ask Macusaya, he will say that he is not indigenous; rather, he is Aymara. To him, the indigenous identity is imposed and represents the interests of other groups. Macusaya also considers the notion that in Bolivia everyone is mestizo to be a colonial concept. ‘We must think of a country not of "indigenous" and not of "mestizos", because these are colonial identities with which the population is racialised to justify exclusions,’ he says. ‘It is useless and even dangerous to be trapped in ideas like "all Bolivians are mestizos because there are no pure races," because it is a mixture of something that does not exist: races.’
The current Bolivian Constitution refers to and recognised the rights and autonomy of inhabitants of rural areas as ‘indígenas originarios campesinos’ (native indigenous peasants). For Macusaya, the ‘native indigenous peasants’ evoke people who live in the countryside and are reluctant to change. Meanwhile, mestizos live in the city. The social changes that indigenous groups experience, moving to new economic spaces, are assumed as biological changes (miscegenation) and are read in racialised terms, Macusaya points out.
A census may need to categorise individuals for practical purposes, but one’s identity is personal and even private. Identities shift over time, and they can’t be reduced to one word and can’t be imposed by anyone else. The next Bolivian census will take place in 2021, and its results will surely be analysed and discussed extensively. As the country goes through a period of political and social change while questioning and trying to assess the legacy of Morales’s presidency, maybe it is time to start rethinking and reflecting on these words we take for granted – mestizo, indigenous, native – in order to avoid repeating the failures of history and create a true and durable ‘plurinational’ state.
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Photos: Rhiannon Matthias
Afro-Bolivians struggle for recognition of their place in Bolivian history
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of Law 200 of the Bolivian Constitution, which officially declared September the month of afrobolivianidad and 23 September as the day of afrobolivianidad. As Bolivia’s black population lived in obscurity and exclusion for centuries – its existence not recognised officially until 2009 – what is meant by afrobolivianidad, or being Afro-Bolivian, is still taking shape. If the televised celebrations on September 23 of last year are anything to go by, it is defined by saya – Afro-Bolivian dance and music – and an eternal struggle and need to reiterate that people of African descent have contributed to Bolivian culture and society, and not just in the realms of entertainment or sports. Saya forms a large part of the celebrations of afrobolivianidad; in Bolivia, it is an important way of passing on oral history as well as embracing African roots. On the surface seeing people of all races and ages moving in and out of sync with the dancers gives the impression of joy in diversity. But as Irene Torrez, the president of the Movimiento Cultural Saya Afroboliviano (MOCUSABOL), points out, ‘Saya is not everything.’ The drums of saya seem to drown out other African contributions to Bolivian society, culture and history, as well as a centuries-long struggle of Bolivians of African descent for basic rights and recognition.
Until 1980, saya was confined to small communities in the Yungas region of the eastern foothills of the Andes, most famously in the village of Tocaña, just north of Coroico. The spread of saya to Bolivia’s metropolitan centres has given much-needed visibility to Bolivia’s African-descended population, and it often provides Afro-Bolivians opportunities to earn their living as performers. But as saya has become more commercial, as is often the case with art forms which have roots in minority communities, its significance and function have largely been lost on the audience, and it’s thereby been compromised. At its root, saya is not just about the movements involved or its rhythm; it also evokes important historical events and notable figures. For example, ‘Si yo fuera presidente’ (If I were president) is a well-known saya that honours Manuel Isidoro Belzu, the Bolivian president who abolished slavery in 1851.
Torrez, of MOCUSABOL, has built her life on the rhythms of the Yungas and has deep love and appreciation for her craft, proudly showing off the trophies and plaques that adorn her small office near the Miraflores neighbourhood of La Paz. But she allows that the Bolivian people’s admiration for the art form can be at best superficial. ‘Saya is important – it connects us to our African ancestors and gives us a sense of pride,’ she says. ‘But a lot of people think all we can do is dance, and they don’t have respect for what we do. Sometimes people pass comments like, “Look how sexy black women are when they dance.” They don’t pay attention to the lyrics of the songs or understand their true weight. We are just objects for their entertainment.’
Whilst people might be open to their music and dance, Afro-Bolivians have had to struggle to be accepted as a people by the rest of Bolivian society for centuries. In spite of legislative and historical changes, they are still victims of discrimination on various levels. They live in relative poverty, face social exclusion and are subject to frequent racist behaviour. Part of the problem with Afro-Bolivian representation stems from the fact that they make up less than 1 percent of the Bolivian population. Their cries are easily muffled, particularly in a country where over half of the population identifies as indigenous and were victims themselves of similar abuses for centuries. Afro-Bolivians’ role in Bolivian history is too easily erased, and their historical experience is very often summarised into a sentence or two – if mentioned at all. Paola Inofuentes, an activist and the executive director of the Afro-Bolivian Centre for Integral and Community Development, puts it succinctly: ‘To the average person, our history goes like this: We arrived as slaves, moved to Los Yungas and then we were liberated. The end.’ But the history of Afro-Bolivians is much more complicated and of much more consequence, for Bolivia and the Spanish empire itself.
The first Africans arrived in Bolivia in the 16th century, as slaves to strip out the rich mines of Cerro Rico, near Portosí, where countless perished due to the inhospitable conditions they were subjected to (the exact number of deaths is impossible to know, but there are estimates that five to six million forced laborers – indigenous and African alike – died in the mines of Cerro Rico). And, like elsewhere in the Americas, both North and South, Africans were forced to perform agricultural labor – oftentimes in appalling conditions. ‘African slaves were transferred to the Yungas partly because the region was in need of manpower, says La Paz–based historian Roger Leonardo Mamani Siñani, ‘and it is said that they arrived knowing how to grow sugar, cotton, and tobacco – all of which grow well in Los Yungas.’ Even after the official abolition of slavery in the mid-19th century, Afro-Bolivians continued to be oppressed by the mestizo elite until the 1952 National Revolution, after which extensive land-reform laws were passed. Even then, though, Afro-Bolivians have faced discrimination and systemic economic hardship up to and including the present day.
Juan Angola Maconde is an Afro-Bolivian economist and one of the foremost experts and researchers in the realm of black history. Originally from Dorado Chico, Yungas his first book, ‘Raíces de un pueblo: cultura afroboliviana’, was published in 2000, and received attention elsewhere in Latin America and even the United States. He emphasises repeatedly that his works have received more attention outside of Bolivia, though he was presented with an award for his research in September of last year – one of the few Afro-Bolivians to be commemorated outside of the area of saya. ‘There has not been much research into the role of Afro-Bolivians in the War of Independence,’ he says. ‘There were black battalions that participated. They were known as Los Batallones de Terror, and many of them perished in the conflict. Their names are unknown because they were slaves who participated in the promise of eventual freedom. We do know that people of African descent participated in the Chaco War, and this is well documented. The likes of Pablo Murga, Pedro Andaverez Peralta and Demetrio Barra emerged as heroes. But once the black and indigenous soldiers returned from the war, they were still subjected to servitude under the hacienda system, and this did not change until the revolution of 1952.’
Pedro Peralta is the most prominent Afro-Bolivian to emerge from the Chaco War, even being recognised by the Bolivian Parliament in 2018 as ‘an exemplary son of the Afro-Bolivian community and culture’. Recognition of heroes like Peralta is a victory and shows some signs of progress for Afro-Bolivians after centuries of being ignored, but there is still a long way to go. ‘The legacy of colonialism and slavery and how it affected us and continues to affect us are not considered,’ Inofuentes explains. ‘I think that some people feel like the fact that we are being acknowledged is enough, and we should feel grateful. But we are not acknowledged for the role we played in liberating this country, and the current issues we face are ignored by everyone.’
Perhaps as a new generation with better access to opportunities, with the added advantage of being better connected and with new notions of afrobolivianidad will begin to emerge. ‘Now with the Internet, it’s easier to find out about people like Malcolm X, and find role models,’ says Inofuentes. Acknowledging the role of Bolivians of African descent in the independence struggle would involve a lot more research, but it could go a long way in shaping blackness in Bolivia, and it would reinforce the idea that they have played roles other than entertaining or serving. In the past 10 years, black Bolivians have gone on to occupy positions of power – people like Jorge Medina, former chief of police Abel de la Barra and the deputy minister of culture Juan Carlos Ballivián. Hopefully, the coming generations will produce more examples of black Bolivian excellence, carrying the knowledge that their ancestors played a role in their freedom.
Photo: Courtesy of Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia
A catalyst for science education in Bolivia
In January 2020, Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia hosted its fifth-annual event. Participants took part in one of 15 different workshops, or clubs, consisting of five-day intensive courses. Three hundred and twenty-two students ages 16 to 22 took part in the event and, for the first time in Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia’s history, came from all nine departments in Bolivia. Impressively, it was entirely free of cost for those who attended. Each club was headed by researchers from universities like Harvard and John Hopkins, as well as the tech giant Google. Each workshop conducted various experiments, from creating genetic modifications using CRISPR technology to creating cyborg cockroaches that could be controlled by cell phones.
Clubes de Ciencia was conceived of in Harvard’s Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Postgraduates and doctoral students from these departments were concerned that they had few peers from Latin America. They concluded that sources of inspiration were scarce for young people from some countries in this region, and that opportunities to engage with professional scientists who were active in their respective fields were in short supply. The grad students decided to provide such an opportunity. After some hard work and planning, the first iteration of Clubes de Ciencia unfolded in Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2014.
After attending the programme in Mexico, Mohammed Mostajo-Radji was inspired to bring a Clubes de Ciencia event to his home country. According to him, Bolivia was in desperate need of such an initiative. ‘Despite being one of the countries with the largest GDP investment in education, Bolivia consistently places last in the region in every measurement of education and innovation,’ says Mostajo-Radji. He set his sights on inspiring Bolivian youth to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers, creating a support network in both Bolivia and abroad, and influencing the future of science education in Bolivia.
The clubs are designed and led by PhD students from top universities in the United States and Europe and co-led by PhD students working in universities in Bolivia. In the lead-up to the event, the two instructors spend many hours together preparing their workshop. The goal of this is to motivate collaboration between researchers working outside of Bolivia and within it, to encourage the sharing of knowledge and expertise and to ensure the students have an inspiring experience when it comes to their week of science.
Clubes de Ciencia adopts a participatory, hands-on approach to learning. This tactic has proven to be rather effective, says Mostajo-Radji, and ‘students learn a lot more in five days of Clubes de Ciencia than in an equivalent university-level semester-long course.’ What’s more, as discussed in a paper written by the group, it is ‘the methodology, and not necessarily the students’ background, that is responsible for this knowledge gain.’ This strategy therefore shows immense promise, especially in countries with limited resources and funds to put towards science education. ‘These results demonstrate efficacy of participatory learning in a developing nation, and suggest that similar techniques could drive scientific engagement in other developing economies.’
Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia has evolved tremendously since its more humble beginnings. Initially, it only had the capacity to accept around 100 students. This year, it accepted 322. While Clubes de Ciencia operates in seven countries, ’in Bolivia we saw an emerging innovation ecosystem that was pretty unique, so we decided to provide as much support to this reality as we could,’ says Mostajo-Radji. Forty percent of the workshops now focus on topics outside of the ‘hard sciences’, such as startup development, science communication and gender in science and technology. Additionally, Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia now incorporates two large events to cater to increased demand: HackBo, the largest technology hackathon in the country, and SymBo, a science, technology and innovation symposium targeted towards young professionals and entrepreneurs.
Although the event only lasts for one week of a year, the impression it leaves on participants lasts much longer. ‘Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia students have created about five science-outreach organisations that currently work in seven departments in Bolivia,’ says Mostajo-Radji. There are students like Leonardo Viscarra, who is creating 3D prosthetics and donating them to children born without limbs. All 20 of the Bolivian students that participated in the NASA Rover Challenge passed through Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia. As for fellowships and scholarships, ‘over half of the Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia students obtain some type of aid either in Bolivia or abroad,’ says Mostajo-Radji. As a result, there are Bolivian students studying STEM subjects all over the world.
Given the success of Clubes de Ciencia and its teaching methods, Mostajo-Radji wants to work more closely with the government to incorporate some aspects of the methodology Clubes de Ciencia employs into the current education system. ‘I have had some meetings with the current minister of education which show promise, and I am hoping the next government will be as excited about collaborating as the current government is,’ he says. ‘It is no secret that the
Morales administration had a very protectionist philosophy, which made collaborations with foreign institutions and scientists a difficult task.’ This was a challenge for Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia since its closest collaborator and major sponsor was the US State Department. ‘We are firm believers in people-to-people connections as the best way to break diplomatic tensions and create common goals,’ adds Mostajo-Radji. A major landmark for Clubes de Ciencia Bolivia was when the Bolivian Embassy in Washington, DC, asked the organisation to devise a programme for the Bolivian community in the United States. In 2018, three workshops for students of Bolivian descent were held at the Embassy. In January 2020, the cultural attaché of the US Embassy in Bolivia and President Añez visited Clubes de Ciencia workshops in Santa Cruz. ‘While these may seem to be baby steps, for countries which have lacked formal diplomatic relationships for over a decade, these are important steps towards mutual understanding and long-term collaboration,’ says Mostajo-Radji.
Learn more at clubesdecienciabolivia.com
Photos: Changtse Quintanilla
UK Government’s Global Scholarship Programme for Future World Leaders
‘Bring your ideas to life, study in the UK’ is the Chevening scholarship’s motto. Last year, for over 1500 professionals from approximately 160 different countries, this dream became a lived reality. Founded by the British government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the year 1983, the Chevening scholarship programme continues to financially support postgraduate study in the UK of thousands of students from all corners of the Earth on a yearly basis.
After enduring a highly competitive application process, successful candidates for the programme are allowed to study a Master’s course at a British University, many of which are Russell Group universities, with all study and travel costs included before returning to their home countries to become valuable and skillful members of their respective societies.
This year, the Bolivian Express team had the pleasure of welcoming back some of Bolivia’s brightest young minds from their Chevening experiences in the UK at an event at the British ambassador’s residence. Following many conversations, and interviews with the past Chevening scholars, the team realised how inspiring, progressive and beneficial this scholarship programme is. All of the scholars had extremely positive experiences at different British universities, and were able to articulate their success stories with an impressively high and sophisticated level of English. Most importantly, the Chevening scholars did not see their return to Bolivia as the end of their scholarship experience. Instead, it is only the beginning. All of the interviewees expressed an eagerness and commitment to staying in Bolivia and channeling their influence, and newfound skills in their home environments.
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María Fernanda Achá Soria
32
Economist
MSc Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship
London School of Economics and Political Science
London
2018–2019
‘Chevening, as a fully funded scholarship, gave me the opportunity to actually go and study in one of the best universities in the world. I also like the networking opportunities that you have and the focus that they have in you studying and being the best that you can. They really push you to be the best in your field and then come back home and be able to implement it here.’
‘My experience was great. I was in London, a huge city completely different from the cities we have here in Bolivia. And particularly the Masters I was in was very interesting because we didn’t have British people, we were all international so we had people from Africa, Asia and a lot of Latin American people, so it was a very diverse group from different paths of lives. So you had people that had studied biodiversity, business, marketing…all these different experiences that will come into one. Being able to actually work together as a team with people that are so multicultural, sometimes it was taught but it was a very nice growing experience.’
‘I would like to be able to help to build a social entrepreneurship ecosystem here in Bolivia, because I really want to have the greater impact I can and I think supporting social entrepreneurs, getting that ecosystem built and finding partnerships would be the best.’
Achá had some advice for people interested in the programme: ‘Go for it, trust in yourself, and don’t fear rejection because if you really don’t go for it you’ll never know. Prepare for the process, take time to understand what you want and what your future is, think about it and think about how you are going to implement it back home. Be honest with yourself.’
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Sergio Rolando Mendoza Reyes
29
Journalist
MS Investigative Reporting
Birkbeck, University of London
London
2018–2019
‘The UK gives a lot of importance to education and culture in general. Chevening is one of the most prestigious scholarships, one of the few fully funded that allows you to choose any course that you want. They also give you a lot of networking and connections to develop your career.’
‘I discovered a lot about myself and my profession, it was an amazing experience in both aspects.’
‘Before the programme I had a basic idea about investigative journalism, after the program I have a more complex and complete idea about journalism and media, I earned a lot of tools that I can use for investigative journalism. The programme opens a lot of opportunities. And I have the dream to make a change with what I’m doing.’
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Nathalie Lizeth Forest Yepez
34
Economist
MSc in Development Economics and Emerging Markets
University of York
York
2018–2019
‘The programme was very supportive, one of the things I liked the most is that Chevening is focused on leadership and networking. Now I would like to continue working in economics and research, and end up in a leadership position to help my country. We have a lot of challenges for the future.’
Forest had some advice for future applicants ‘Be honest with yourself. Sometimes you want to impress and show all the most interesting things that you have done. But everything works better when you have the honesty with since the beginning.’
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Marcelo Fernando Gantier Mita
27
Economist
MSc in Economics
The University of Warwick
Coventry
2018-2019
‘Now, I’m working as a consultant and also teaching macroeconomics at the Universidad Católica Boliviana. I want to continue teaching because I think it is a very good way to pay back to my country after all the experience that I had abroad. So I want to change the mentality of students, telling them to try harder and have big aspirations.’
‘I’ve learned so much about many different things because I shared with people from all over the world, the experience with Chevening opens your mind. But I’m happy to be back in my country and work for my people to improve things here. We need a lot of human capital to build a new country.’
