Virginia Velasco | |
|---|---|
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| Personal details | |
| Born | October 11, 1980 La Paz, Bolivia |
| Political party | Movimiento al Socialismo |
Virginia Velasco Condori (born October 11, 1980) is a Bolivian lawyer and politician. She began her political career as the sixth Minister of Justice and Human Rights under President Evo Morales. Virginia would later become a senator for the department of La Paz, representing it since 2020. [1] [2]
Virginia Velasco was born on October 11, 1980 in the town of Caicoma in the municipality of Laja in the province of Los Andes in the department of La Paz . She began her school studies in 1986, graduating with high school in 1997. Subsequently, she continued with her higher education, entering the Law program at the Salesiana University of Bolivia, graduating as a lawyer by profession in 2014.
During her working life, Velasco worked as a lawyer in free practice, venturing into various are as of the profession as a defender of the rights of indigenous women. [3]
She was appointed Minister of Justice by President Evo Morales Ayma in 2015, serving until 2017, when she was succeeded by Héctor Enrique Arce Zaconeta. During her tenure as Minister of Justice, she promoted a series of inclusion policies in justice, as well as substantial changes in Bolivian justice, highlighting during her tenure the justice summit held on June 10, 2016 in the city of Sucre. [4]
On 26 June 2024, General Juan José Zúñiga, commander of the Bolivian Army, attempted a coup d'état by sending troops to seize Plaza Murillo in La Paz, the country's administrative capital, and storm the Casa Grande del Pueblo, the presidential palace. Condori spoke to reporters outside the Plurinational Legislative Assembly accusing Morales of being behind the coup attempt. She stated that “The guilty party here is Mr. Evo Morales, he is behind this coup d’état". [5]
The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state, head of government and head of a diverse multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. Both the Judiciary and the electoral branch are independent of the executive and the legislature. After the 2014 Bolivian general election, 53.1% of the seats in national parliament were held by women, a higher proportion of women than that of the population.
Elizabeth Cristina Salguero Carrillo is a Bolivian diplomat, journalist, politician, and women's rights activist who served as minister of cultures from 2011 to 2012. A member of the Movement for Socialism, she previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz from 2006 to 2009. In 2009, she was elected as a substitute party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz but resigned before taking office in order to launch an ultimately unsuccessful La Paz mayoral campaign. From 2012 to 2015, she served as ambassador of Bolivia to Germany, and since then has worked as an international expert in strategic planning at UN Women.
Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he previously served as minister of finance—later minister of economy and public finance—from 2006 to 2017, and in 2019.
The Social Democratic Movement, often shortened to just the Democrats, is a far-right political party in Bolivia founded in 2013 for the movement for greater autonomy for the eastern departments of the Media Luna.
The Casa Grande del Pueblo is the Bolivian presidential residence that replaced the Palacio Quemado in 2018. It is a 29 story tower. Inaugurated on 9 August 2018 during the presidency of Evo Morales as the official residence of the President of Bolivia, the interim government of Jeanine Áñez reverted to occupying the Palacio Quemado from 2019 to 2020. Following the inauguration of Luis Arce on 8 November 2020, it has again become the residence of the president.
Nardi Elizabeth Suxo Iturry is a Bolivian lawyer and sociologist. She served as the ambassador of Bolivia to Austria, Croatia, Hungary, and Slovakia from June to November 2019.
A political crisis occurred in Bolivia on 10 November 2019, after 21 days of civil protests following the disputed 2019 Bolivian general election in which incumbent President Evo Morales was initially declared the winner. The elections took place after a referendum to amend the Bolivian constitution, which limits the number of terms to two, was rejected in 2016. In 2017, the Constitutional Tribunal (TCP) ruled that all public offices would have no term limits despite what was established in the constitution and allowing Evo Morales to run for a fourth term.
Jeanine Áñez Chávez is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and television presenter who served as the 66th president of Bolivia from 2019 to 2020. A former member of the Social Democratic Movement, she previously served two terms as senator for Beni from 2015 to 2019 on behalf of the Democratic Unity coalition and from 2010 to 2014 on behalf of the National Convergence alliance. During this time, she served as second vice president of the Senate from 2015 to 2016 and in 2019 and, briefly, was president of the Senate, also in 2019. Before that, she served as a uninominal member of the Constituent Assembly from Beni, representing circumscription 61 from 2006 to 2007 on behalf of the Social Democratic Power alliance.
Luis Fernando Camacho Vaca is a Bolivian activist, businessman, lawyer, and politician serving as the 2nd governor of Santa Cruz since 2021. He is the leader of Creemos, opposition bench in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly and was the chair of the Santa Cruz Civic Committee in 2019.
The 2019–2020 Mexico–Bolivia diplomatic crisis began on 29 October 2019 when the Mexican government congratulated incumbent Bolivian President Evo Morales for his reelection victory. After the election, a preliminary report by the Organization of American States on 9 November reported numerous irregularities in the election, and amid protests and pressure from the Bolivian armed forces and police, Morales was forced to resign.
Wilfredo Franz David Chávez Serrano is a Bolivian lawyer, professor, and politician serving as the Attorney General of Bolivia since 12 November 2020 during the government of Luis Arce. He previously served as Minister of the Government from September 2011 to January 2012 during the government of Evo Morales.
The Arce Cabinet constitutes the 222nd cabinet of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. It was formed on 9 November 2020, one day after Luis Arce was sworn in as the 67th president of Bolivia following the 2020 general election, succeeding the Áñez Cabinet. The cabinet is composed entirely of members of the ruling Movement for Socialism. Described as a "technocratic" cabinet, it has been noted for the low-profile and youth of some of its members as well as its political distance from former president Evo Morales.
Events from the year 2022 in Bolivia.
Martha Yujra Apaza is a Bolivian politician and trade unionist who served as minister of cultures and tourism from 2019 to 2020. A prominent trade union leader in El Alto, Yujra was the only indigenous member of the Jeanine Áñez Cabinet and was the final official to head the Ministry of Cultures and Tourism; the institution was abolished during her term. During her tenure, Yujra's office primarily dealt with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cultural sector, devising means of alleviating the economic ramifications of quarantine measures on artisans and entertainers. She subsequently served as a counselor at the Embassy of Bolivia in Quito from July to November 2020. Prior to serving as minister, Yujra gained notoriety for her fierce opposition to the government of Evo Morales. In 2017, she led a breakaway faction of the pro-government El Alto Regional Workers' Center. As its executive secretary, Yujra aligned the union with the Bolivia Says No alliance, running unsuccessfully to represent La Paz in the Chamber of Deputies in the annulled 2019 general elections.
Yesenia Yarhui Albino is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and former student leader who served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Chuquisaca from 2015 to 2020. An activist forged in the student movement, Yarhui entered politics in 2014 as a candidate on the Christian Democratic Party ballot. Elected in that year's general elections, Yarhui was just 19 years old upon her entry into the Chamber of Deputies, making her the youngest parliamentarian in Bolivian history.
Luis Gallego Condori is a Bolivian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies from Potosí, representing circumscription 39 from 2010 to 2015.
Romina Guadalupe Pérez Ramos is a Bolivian academic, diplomat, politician, and sociologist who served as ambassador of Bolivia to Iran from 2019 to 2020 and since 2021. A member of the Movement for Socialism, she previously served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba from 2015 to 2019. Pérez graduated as a sociologist from the Higher University of San Simón before completing postgraduate studies in the European Union. She comes from a generation of leftist academics who entered political activity as activists against the military dictatorships of the 1970s and 80s, as well as the neoliberal democratic governments that succeeded them. Her work in the field of women's and ethnic rights led her to join multiple NGOs, including the Center for Legal Studies and Social Research, through which many academics and intellectuals became politically linked with the Movement for Socialism. In 2014, she won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies on the party's electoral list but did not complete her term, being appointed ambassador to Iran in mid-2019.
María Magdalena Cajías de la Vega is a Bolivian academic, historian, and politician who served as minister of education from 2007 to 2008. Cajías spent most of her professional career teaching history at the Higher University of San Andrés, in addition to holding a number of consultancy posts for intergovernmental organizations and government bodies. She authored multiple published historical titles, focusing on the fields of women's and labor history. In 2006, Cajías was brought on as a consultant for the Ministry of the Presidency before being appointed to head the Ministry of Education the following year. After a brief return to academia following the conclusion of her ministerial term, Cajías returned to public administration as consul general in Santiago, where she served from 2014 to 2019. In 2021, she was named as a member of the editorial board of the Bolivian Bicentennial Library.
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On 26 June 2024, an attempted military coup occurred in Bolivia, orchestrated by dissident officers of the Armed Forces led by General Juan José Zúñiga. Armed troops occupied the Plaza Murillo in La Paz, the political heart of the country, but withdrew amid domestic and international pressure and after the appointment of a new military high command.
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