Bolivia, named after independence fighter Simon Bolivar, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Much of its subsequent history has consisted of a series of coups and counter coups, with the last coup occurring in 1978. Democratic civilian rule was established in 1982, but leaders have faced problems of deep-seated poverty, social unrest, and illegal drug production.
In December 2005, Bolivians elected Movement Toward Socialism leader Evo Morales president – by the widest margin of any leader since the restoration of civilian rule in 1982 – after he ran on a promise to change the country’s traditional political class and empower the nation’s poor and indigenous majority. In December 2009 and October 2014, President Morales easily won reelection. His party maintained control of the legislative branch of the government, which has allowed him to continue his “process of change.” In February 2016, Morales narrowly lost a referendum to approve a constitutional amendment that would have allowed him to compete in the 2019 presidential election. However, a 2017 Supreme Court ruling stating that term limits violate human rights provided the justification for Morales to be chosen by his party to run again in 2019. Morales attempted to claim victory in the October 2019 election, but widespread allegations of electoral fraud, rising violence, and pressure from the military ultimately forced him to flee the country. An interim government, led by President Jeanine Anez Chavez, prepared new elections that took place in October 2020; President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora took office the following month.
Economy
Resource-rich economy benefits during commodity booms; has bestowed juridical rights to Mother Earth, impacting extraction industries; increasing Chinese lithium mining trade relations; hard hit by COVID-19; increased fiscal spending amid poverty increases; rampant banking and finance corruption.
Population
The population is 12,186,079 (2023 est.) which consist of Mestizo (mixed White and Amerindian ancestry) 68%, Indigenous 20%, White 5%, Cholo/Chola 2%, African descent 1%, other 1%, unspecified 3%; 44% of respondents indicated feeling part of some indigenous group, predominantly Quechua or Aymara (2009 est.)
Afro-Bolivians are Bolivian people of Sub-Saharan African heritage and therefore the descriptive “Afro-Bolivian” may refer to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from their community. It can also refer to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Bolivian society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and class culture. The Afro-Bolivians are recognized as one of the constituent ethnic groups of Bolivia by the country’s government, and are ceremonially led by a king who traces his descent back to a line of monarchs that reigned in Africa during the medieval period. They numbered 432,000 according to the 2012 census.
In 1544, the Spanish Conquistadors discovered the silver mines in a city now called Potosí, which is on the base of Cerro Rico. They began to enslave the natives as workers in the mines. However, the health of the natives working in the mines became very poor, so the Spanish began to bring in enslaved Sub-Saharan Africans to work in the mines. Slaves were brought as early as the 16th century in Bolivia to work in mines. In Potosí during the 17th century 30,000 Africans were brought to work in the mines from which the total population of Potosí numbered around 200,000. Slaves were more expensive in Bolivia than other parts of the Spanish colonies costing upwards to 800 pesos. This was due to the fact that they had to be bought from slave ports in the coastal region of the Spanish empire and had to trek from cities like Cartagena, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires to Bolivia.
The biggest African influence in Bolivian culture is Saya music or La Saya. The word saya originates from Kikongo nsaya, referring to the act of singing while performing communal work. Although Saya is growing in popularity in Bolivia it is still very misunderstood. The reason for this lack of understanding of saya is because the interpretation of the instruments as well as the rhythm is very peculiar. It involves Andean instruments incorporated with African percussion. The primary instrument is the drum, which was passed on by their African ancestors, along with gourds, shakers, and even jingles bells that are attached to their clothing on the ankle area.
Afro-Bolivians have traditionally maintained their own creole language, with links to earlier Bozal Spanish. Despite the Afro-Bolivian community fervently working to preserve their culture, many Afro-Bolivians have reported experiencing severe racism and feelings of isolation from society due to intolerance. Laws that actually criminalize racism and discrimination in Afro-Bolivia have slowly been ratified as the first anti-discriminatory law (law 45) was passed in 2010 and was met with violent protesting and rioting. In 2009 President Evo Morales added amendments to the national constitution that outlined the rights of Afro-Bolivians and guaranteed the protection of such liberties. The amendments also generally extended to indigenous peoples and officially recognized Afro-Bolivians as a minority group in Bolivia despite them not being included in the national census three years later. In addition to the country’s constitution being updated in 2009, President Morales created the Vice Ministry for Decolonization to create policies that criminalize racism while working to improve literacy and create better race relations in Bolivia. The Vice Ministry for Decolonization also works to dismantle colorism and racism influenced by European colonization while also promoting the philosophy of “intercultural-ity” in which citizens of the nation recognize every ethnic groups’ traditions and cultural practices as contributions to society.