Bolivian inequality May 25, 2009
Despite having a president, Evo Morales, who is an Aymara Indian, the indigenous groups of Bolivia continue to be among the nation's poorest, working as peasant farmers or cheap labour. And according to Rafael Mora, negative stereotypes abound. (BBC News -- Americas)
Bolivia's Morales Asks UN to Recognize Legal Use of Cocaine Raw Ingredient Mar 13, 2009
The president, an Aymara Indian and former coca farmer, said in the letter that the leaf is harmless and non-addictive, containing only trace amounts of the alkaloid cocaine. Morales chewed the leaves at a UN conference on drug policy in Vienna, Austria, yesterday as he asked the UN on Narcotic Drugs to reverse its 48-year-old decision to qualify the coca leaf as a narcotic, according to official state news agency ABI. The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs said chewing of the coca leaf... (Bloomberg -- Latin America)
Rafts From the Past: Floating Wicker Baskets Mar 8, 2009
In this file photo, an indigenous Aymara man works on a reed boat on the edge of the lake Titicaca in Huatajata, Bolivia ... It extends from a rekindling of the traditional Indian languages of Aymara and Quechua to reclaiming ancient customs, particularly as the nation's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, ushers in a new era of indigenous pride. (ABC News)
Interview: Evo Morales Mar 29, 2008
Two years ago he became the first Aymara indigenous Indian to be elected president of the nation. At present he is facing fierce opposition from provinces demanding autonomy, and some are even threatening to break away from the country, however Morales remains as determined as ever to forge ahead with his proposals, including a push for a new constitution granting more power to the country's indigenous majority. (Aljazeera.Net)
The Hugo Chavez of Bolivia Oct 17, 2007
As I was told in Cochabamba by many people of Quechua descent who confronted Morales' supporters after the latter set fire to the office of the governor a few months ago, the current president, an Aymara, does not even speak the native languages. Aymaras and Quechuas fought each other before the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century. (New Republic)
Chvez: Indigenous Congress & UN Oct 17, 2007
The cities of La Paz and Tiwanaku, in the countrys Andean region, and Chimor in central Bolivia, were the sites selected for this weeks multicultural congress which is being attended by representatives of the Aymara and Quechua people of Bolivia and ethnic groups from Central and South America ... Nieves Mamani, an Aymara woman who lives in Pacajes, in the highlands of the province of La Paz, said that she hopes the Bolivian constituent assembly will recognise the U.N. declaration on... (Zmag.org)
Chvez: Bolivia, UN & Indigenous Rights Sep 28, 2007
The Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, approved by the United Nations after two decades of to-ing and fro-ing, came just as the Aymara indigenous president is seeing his legitimacy questioned by a new rightwing opposition movement, led by civilian groups backed by members of the business community and large landowners ... This form of government only remains today among newly strengthened groups of Aymara and Quechua Indians. (Zmag.org)
Coca commerceBolivia's coca traders hope for a legal future for their crop Sep 4, 2007
But for Bolivia's Aymara and Quechua Indians coca is more than just sustenance. "Everything has its physical form, personality and spirit for indigenous communities. The way we relate to everything around us is through coca," says Sdenka Silva, co-founder of La Paz's Coca Museum. (BBC News -- Americas)
Touring Chile, a land rich with mystique Aug 17, 2007
He described herds of vicuna, vast salt lakes with flocks of flamingos and colonies of the strange rodents known in the Aymara language as vizcacha, resembling the product of an unholy mating between a rabbit and small dog. Fool that I was, I turned him down. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Blanco: Andean-Amazonian Struggle Aug 16, 2007
The Quechua and Aymara name for the campesino community is ayllu. It is bound by strong ties, many expressed in work (ayni, minka, faena) and in all aspects of life. (Zmag.org)
Zibechi: Mapuche in Chile Aug 1, 2007
The memory of the Mapuches loss of autonomy is still fresh, and this can be motivation for a habit which is repeated in many conversations: unlike the Aymara, the Quechua or the Maya, the Mapuche place themselves in the position of victims which, while justified, is uncomfortable. Jose Huenchunao assures us that the communities are experiencing a new situation with their current desperation. (Zmag.org)
Stefanoni: Bolivia Racial Revenge? Jun 26, 2007
This debate went beyond limits of absurdity during a televised discussion on PAT. Without flinching, Juan Claudio Lechn and Roberto Barbery, whilst speaking about the undemocratic character of the new government, tried to demonstrate, using an academic tone, that Evo Morales and the national socialism of Adolf Hitler both articulated in a similar way ethnic superiority (in this case Quechua-Aymara), corporativism, and charismatic leadership ... Nevertheless, one should not lose sight of the... (Zmag.org)
Parque Nacional Lauca in Chile Jun 25, 2007
Aymara villages are typical here and the dress, food, customs, and look of the people are much similar to the Andean peoples of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador than mestizo Chile. The village of Parinacota (4,392 meters above sea level) is the most visited village in the park. (Suite101.com)
MAS: A New Bolivia Jun 18, 2007
Because of this, the valiant Bolivian people have conformed a Constituent Assembly to which it has given the mandate to "refound Bolivia" and construct a state based on the principals of sovereignty, dignity, complementarity, solidarity, harmony and equality in distribution and redistribution of the social product, where the common good predominates in the search to "live well; of respect for economic, social, judicial, political and cultural diversity of all its inhabitants; generating... (Zmag.org)
* Globe trotting -- Bolivia @zz:Q Jun 9, 2007
Two American Indian groups, the Aymara and the Quechua, are still the two largest ethnic groups and make up more than half of the country's population ... The Aymara, Quechua and other Native Americans were used as labor in these efforts ... Languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Business)
Sweeping South America: indigenous pride Apr 3, 2007
5 million Aymara speakers. Andean languages also flourish in Ecuador as well as parts of Colombia and Argentina. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
