Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in western-central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay to the southeast, Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. The seat of government and administrative capital is La Paz, which contains the executive, legislative, and electoral branches of government, while the constitutional capital is Sucre, the seat of the judiciary. The largest city and principal industrial center is Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located on the Llanos Orientales, a mostly flat region in the east of the country.
The ayllu, a family clan, is the traditional form of a community in the Andes, especially among Quechuas and Aymaras. They are an indigenous local government model across the Andes region of South America, particularly in Bolivia and Peru.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz department.
Luzmila Carpio is a Bolivian singer and songwriter who has performed in Spanish and Quechua. She also has served as the Bolivian ambassador to France from 2006 to 2010.
Felipe Quispe Huanca "Mallku", was a Bolivian historian and political leader. He headed the Pachakuti Indigenous Movement (MIP) and was general secretary of the United Union Confederation of Working Peasants of Bolivia (CSUTCB).
Qullasuyu was the southeastern provincial region of the Inca Empire. Qullasuyu is the region of the Qulla and related specifically to the native Qulla Quechuas who primarily resided in areas such as Cochabamba and Potosí. Most Aymara territories which are now largely incorporated into the modern South American states of northern Chile, Peru, Bolivia and the Argentine northwest were annexed during the reign of Sapa Inca Huayna Cápac in the sixteenth century.
Quechua people or Quichua people may refer to any of the indigenous peoples of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, there are some significant populations in Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina.
Apu Mallku is an Aymara title meaning "supreme leader" or "king" conferred on a Mallku or "prince". The Apu Mallku's mandate is to oversee the vast network of Ayllus, an ancient Andean system of governing councils that predates even the Inca empire. It appears that the mandate of the Apu Mallku was initially restricted to the Collasuyu but it could now be interpreted to extend to the bounds of the much larger former Inca realm of the Tawantinsuyu which stretched throughout the Andes incorporating the modern states of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. The self-appellation for the people of this combined territory is Qullana.
Max Paredes was an ethnic Aymara Apu Mallku of Qullana Suyu Marka between 2000 and 2003. He had been a Mallku representing the Aymara community of part of Bolivia before he was chosen as the next Apu Mallku. In 2002 he was forced to defend his position amid various slurs that he was in league with the government of Bolivia. He was replaced in 2003 by Vicente Flores.
Antonio Machaca is an indigenous leader from Bolivia who served as the elected Apu Mallku, or spiritual leader, of CONAMAQ - Consejo Nacional de Ayllus y Markas del Qollasuyu for 2004. He was succeeded by Evo Morales.
The Mollo culture existed in Bolivia's altiplano area after the collapse of the Tiwanaku culture during the period of AD 1000 to 1500; it predated the Inca civilization. While the Mollo showed a continuity with Late Tiwanaku culture in both domestic and village architecture, they left no pyramids. Mollo worshiped the jaguar.
The constant political turmoil that Bolivia has experienced throughout its history has slowed the development of Bolivian literature. Many talents have had to emigrate or were silenced by the internal conflict. In recent years the literature of Bolivia has been in a process of growth, with the appearance of new writers. Older writers such as Adela Zamudio, Oscar Alfaro, and Franz Tamayo continue to be important.
Katarism is a political movement in Bolivia, named after the 18th-century indigenous leader Túpac Katari.
Jorge Sanjinés is a Bolivian film director and screenwriter. He founded the production group Grupo Ukamau. He won the ALBA Prize for Arts in 2009.
The National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu is a confederation of traditional governing bodies of Quechua-, Aymara- and Uru-speaking highland indigenous communities in the departments of La Paz, Oruro, Potosí, Cochabamba, Chuquisaca and Tarija, Bolivia. Specifically, it represents the following 16 suyus: Jacha Carangas, Jatun Quillacas, Asamajaquis, Charcas Qara Qara, Council of Ayllus of Potosí, Qara Qara Suyu, Sora, Kallawaya, Leco, Larecaja, Colla, Chui, Paca Jake, Ayllus of Cochabamba, Kapaj Omasuyus and Yapacaní. CONAMAQ was founded on March 22, 1997, with the purpose of restoring the self-governance of "original nations" including "collective rights to land and natural resources, re-definition of administrative units and self-determination exercised through indigenous autonomies and direct representation in state institutions." CONAMAQ is a member of the National Coordination for Change, and of the Andean Coordination of Indigenous Organizations. It was a member of the Pact of Unity in Bolivia from its founding until December 2011.
Blood of the Condor is a 1969 Bolivian drama film co-written and directed by Jorge Sanjinés and starring Marcelino Yanahuaya. The film tells the story of an indigenous Bolivian community receiving medical care from the Peace Corps-like United States-backed agency Cuerpo del Progreso which is secretly sterilising local women. The story, which was based on accounts by the indigenous people to the filmmaker, provoked an outrage in the public which led to a government investigation about the Peace Corps' actions in Bolivia, which ended in the expulsion of the agency from the country.
Censorship in Bolivia can be traced back through years of conflict between Bolivia's indigenous population and the wealthier population of European descent. Until Bolivia democratized in 1982, the media was strictly controlled.
Santos Quispe Quispe, commonly known as Wayna Mallku, is a Bolivian doctor and politician serving as governor of La Paz since 2021. A member of Forward United People, of which he is the leader, Quispe was a relative unknown in politics until he replaced his late father, the renowned peasant leader Felipe Quispe, as Jallalla La Paz's candidate for the governorship of the La Paz Department. Shortly after winning the election, Quispe terminated his party's pact with Jallalla, establishing a confrontational attitude with the Departmental Assembly for the duration of his term. In early 2022, he was sentenced to house arrest with the right to work after being discovered allegedly intoxicated at his office.
The 2021 La Paz gubernatorial election was held on Sunday, 7 March 2021, with a runoff taking place on 11 April 2021, involving separate contests for governor and all forty-five seats in the Departmental Legislative Assembly. Incumbent governor Félix Patzi unsuccessfully sought reelection to a second term, finishing in fourth place with 4.36 percent of the popular vote. The election was won by Jallalla La Paz's Santos Quispe, who attained 55.23 percent of the vote in the second round, defeating Franklin Flores of the Movement for Socialism. On the legislative ballot, the Movement for Socialism won sixteen of the twenty provincial circumscriptions and nine of the twenty party-list seats, retaining its twenty-five seat majority in the Legislative Assembly.
Samuel Plata Plata is a Bolivian auto mechanic and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz, representing circumscription 22 from 2010 to 2015. Born in a peasant community in the Altiplano plateau, Plata scaled the ranks of traditional leadership, serving as president of the Chuncarcota school board, mallku of his Aymara township, and finally, jach'a mallku cantonal of the three ayllus in the Urinsaya Marka, the sector's highest indigenous authority. Plata's prominent local presence led regional peasant sectors to nominate him as their representative in the Legislative Assembly, with the Movement for Socialism sponsoring his successful candidacy for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies.
