The history of the indígenas and their movement for justice. This history and platform of MAS Bolivia and it's leader - Evo Morales.

1. El Movimiento al Socialismo The History and the Future of MAS: The Political Party of the Indigenous in Bolivia

2. Bolivian Demographics Population: 8,989,045 (July 2006, est.) 55%-70% Indígena 30%-42% Mestizo 10-15% Caucasian 2/3 of the population lives in poverty – primarily subsistence farmers and indígena Indígena: Aymara, Quechuas, Guaraní 4 official languages of Bolivia: Spanish, Aymara, Quechua, Guanarí

3. Historia de lasIndígenas de Bolivia Aymara arrived in the region over 2000 years ago. The capital city of Tiwanaku, in Western Bolivia, was a small and impressive village that was primarily agricultural.

4. Historia de lasIndígenas de Bolivia Between AD 600-800, Tiwanaku grew to urban proportions. Early estimates believed that the city supported a population of 15000-30000 inhabitants. The sukakollas, or flooded-raised field agriculture that has been discovered in the area, contradicts that earlier estimate. Tiwanaku is now believed to had a “population carrying capacity of between 285,000 and 1,482,000 people in it’s hayday.

5. Historia (cont.) The Inca culture ruled between 1438-1527, leaving the most famous ancient mark on the area. Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, and Hernando de Luque were the conquistadores that led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. The Spanish established Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1561, but were forced to fight numerous rebellions before and after, particularly in Gran Chaco, where the Chiriguano carried out attacks against the conquistadores and colonizers, remaining independent of Spanish rule.

6. The Turning Point The treatment and living conditions of Bolivia’s indígenas was “deplorable” for most of the nation’s history. The native peoples received the right to vote only in 1952, after the Bolivian Revolution. After the Revolution, the Indian solution went from annihilation to assimilation, going so far as to rule out the use of the word “indian” as a category, using the term “peasant” instead. The new policies did little to create actual change in the day-to-day lives of the indígenas.

7. Rise of Capitalism In 1993, Sánchez de Lozadawas elected president of Bolivia, ushering in a new era of capitalism, privatizing historically national industries – oil, telecommunications, electric utilities, and others. This created an alliance with the US, and the rise of opposition from the indígena region of Chapare.

8. Cochabamba: Water for a Price

9. Cochabamba Water Wars Between January and April of 2000, large-scale protests began in Cochabamba, Bolivia’s third-largest city, because of the governments action to privatize water, due to pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The rate hike due to the privatization, and the building of a new dam, raised some citizens’ water bills to over $20 a month, in a country with a minimum of wage equaling less than $70 a month.

10. Water Wars (cont.) In response to the protests, the government declared martial law, “killing several people, arresting protest leaders, and shutting down radio stations.”

11. Cocaleros The Coca Leaf is an intrinsic part of Bolivia’s indigenous culture and economy. The leaf has been used for millenia for medicinal purposes, food, tea, cosmetics – and in cocaine. Coca unions, and cocaleros (farmers) are the power behind the MAS ascendency and the election and re-election of President Evo Morales.

12. Evo Morales Born Juan Evo Morales Ayma, on October 16, 1959 The former Cocalero, is considered to be the first 100% indigenous head of state of Bolivia, since the Spanish Conquest. In 2006, with an historic 84.5% nationwide electorate participation, Evo, as he is popularly called, won 53.7% of the popular vote, and 45% of the electorate. In December of 2009, he was elected to serve his second term as president with a undeniable mandate of 63% of the vote, crossing class and ethnic lines.

13. Partido MAS MAS, Movimiento al Socialismo evolved out of the movement to defend the interests of coca growers. The platform is progressive. To achieve national unity To develop a new hydrocarbon law which will guarantee 50% of the revenue from the industry to the government of Bolivia. There are many voices within the party that say 50% is not nearly enough – there is a powerful push for complete nationalization of the gas and oil industries. MAS stands for a platform of equality, indígena rights, agrarian land reform, Constitutional reform, and the nationalization of key industries.

14. Sources (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evo_Morales (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocalero (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Cochabamba_protests (3/25/10): http://www.ajws.org/hunger/news/culture_cocaleros_bolivian_politics.html (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapare_Province (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_Socialism_%28Bolivia%29 (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bolivia (3/25/10): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_bolivia AbyaLala: This Land is Ours. Dir. Patrick Vanier. Documentary. Sycamore Films, Paris. (Downloadable on onebigtorrent.com. Winn, Peter. “Children of the Sun: On the Roof of the World.” Americas: The Changing Face of Latin America and the Caribbean. Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 2006. 261-269. Print