Katarismo
Encyclopedia
Katarism is a political tendency in Bolivia
, named after the 18th-century indigenous leader Túpaj Katari. The katarista movement began to articulate itself publicly in the early 1970s, recovering a political identity of the Aymara people. The movement was centered around two key understandings, that the colonial legacy continued in the Latin American republics after independence and that the indigenous population constituted the demographic (and thus essentially, the political) majority in Bolivia. Katarismo stresses that the indigenous peoples of Bolivia suffer both from class oppression (in the Marxist, economic sense) and ethnic oppression.
The agrarian reform of 1953 had enabled a group of Aymara youth to begin university studies in La Paz
in the 1960s. In the city they faced prejudices, and katarista thoughts began to emerge amongst the students. They were inspired by the rhetoric of the national revolution as well as Fausto Reinaga (writer and founder of the Indian Party of Bolivia). The group formed the Julian Apansa University Movement, MUJA. Its most prominent leader was Jenaro Flores Santos
(who in 1965 returned to the countryside, to lead peasants struggles). Another prominent figure was Raimundo Tambo.
At the 1971 Sixth National Peasant Congress, the congress of the National Peasants Confederation, the kataristas emerged as a major oppositional faction against the pro-government forces. The 1973 Tolata massacre (in which at least 13 Quechua peasants were killed) radicalized the katarista movement.
Katarismo made its political breakthrough in the late 1970s, through the leading role kataristas played in CSUTCB. A political wing of the movement, the Tupaj Katari Revolutionary Movement
(MRTK) was also launched. A radical strem of katarismo has been represented by Felipe Quispe
(aka El Mallku), who took part in founding the Tupaj Katari Guerrilla Army in the 1980s.
Katarista organization were instutionally weakened during the 1980s. In this context NGOs began to appropriate katarista symbols. Populist parties, such as CONDEPA, also began to integrate katarista symbols in their discourse. After the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
(MNR) had incorporated katarista themes in its 1993 election campaign, other mainstream parties followed suit (most notably the Revolutionary Left Movement
).
In 1993 the katarista leader Víctor Hugo Cárdenas
was elected Vice President of Bolivia
. However the broader katarista movement was divided on how to perceive Cárdenas taking office as Vice-President, some sectors were vehemently opposed to his alliance with Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
.
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, named after the 18th-century indigenous leader Túpaj Katari. The katarista movement began to articulate itself publicly in the early 1970s, recovering a political identity of the Aymara people. The movement was centered around two key understandings, that the colonial legacy continued in the Latin American republics after independence and that the indigenous population constituted the demographic (and thus essentially, the political) majority in Bolivia. Katarismo stresses that the indigenous peoples of Bolivia suffer both from class oppression (in the Marxist, economic sense) and ethnic oppression.
The agrarian reform of 1953 had enabled a group of Aymara youth to begin university studies in La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
in the 1960s. In the city they faced prejudices, and katarista thoughts began to emerge amongst the students. They were inspired by the rhetoric of the national revolution as well as Fausto Reinaga (writer and founder of the Indian Party of Bolivia). The group formed the Julian Apansa University Movement, MUJA. Its most prominent leader was Jenaro Flores Santos
Jenaro Flores Santos
Jenaro Flores Santos is a Bolivian trade union leader and politician.Flores Santos was the founder of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, or CSUTCB...
(who in 1965 returned to the countryside, to lead peasants struggles). Another prominent figure was Raimundo Tambo.
At the 1971 Sixth National Peasant Congress, the congress of the National Peasants Confederation, the kataristas emerged as a major oppositional faction against the pro-government forces. The 1973 Tolata massacre (in which at least 13 Quechua peasants were killed) radicalized the katarista movement.
Katarismo made its political breakthrough in the late 1970s, through the leading role kataristas played in CSUTCB. A political wing of the movement, the Tupaj Katari Revolutionary Movement
Tupaj Katari Revolutionary Movement
The Tupaj Katari Revolutionary Movement is a left-wing political party in Bolivia....
(MRTK) was also launched. A radical strem of katarismo has been represented by Felipe Quispe
Felipe Quispe
Felipe Quispe Huanca "El Mallku" is an ethnic Aymara Bolivian political leader. He heads the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement and has also been general secretary of the United Union Confederation of Working Peasants of Bolivia...
(aka El Mallku), who took part in founding the Tupaj Katari Guerrilla Army in the 1980s.
Katarista organization were instutionally weakened during the 1980s. In this context NGOs began to appropriate katarista symbols. Populist parties, such as CONDEPA, also began to integrate katarista symbols in their discourse. After the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
Revolutionary Nationalist Movement
The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement is a Bolivian political party, perhaps the most important in the country during the 20th century. At the legislative elections in 2002, the party won, in an alliance with the Free Bolivia Movement, 26.9% of the popular vote and 36 out of 130 seats in the...
(MNR) had incorporated katarista themes in its 1993 election campaign, other mainstream parties followed suit (most notably the Revolutionary Left Movement
Revolutionary Left Movement (Bolivia)
The Revolutionary Left Movement - New Majority is a social democratic political party in Bolivia...
).
In 1993 the katarista leader Víctor Hugo Cárdenas
Víctor Hugo Cárdenas
Víctor Hugo Cárdenas Conde is a Bolivian indigenous Aymara activist and politician. He is the leader of the MRTKL party...
was elected Vice President of Bolivia
Vice President of Bolivia
This is a list of Vice Presidents of Bolivia, the second highest political position in Bolivia. There are several gaps in the list, caused by intermittent political turmoil. The names of Vice Presidents who also were President at one time or another are given in bold text...
. However the broader katarista movement was divided on how to perceive Cárdenas taking office as Vice-President, some sectors were vehemently opposed to his alliance with Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada
Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada y Sánchez de Bustamante , familiarly known as "Goni", is a Bolivian politician, businessman, and former President of Bolivia. A lifelong member of the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario , he is credited for using "shock therapy", the economic theory championed by then...
.
Works cited
- Sanjinés C., Javier. Mestizaje Upside-Down: Aesthetic Politics in Modern Bolivia. Illuminations. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004.
- Schelling, Vivian. Through the Kaleidoscope: The Experience of Modernity in Latin America. Critical studies in Latin American and Iberian cultures. London [u.a.]: Verso, 2001.
- Stern, Steve J. Resistance, Rebellion, and Consciousness in the Andean Peasant World, 18th to 20th Centuries. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1987.
- Van Cott, Donna Lee. From Movements to Parties in Latin America: The Evolution of Ethnic Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.