Country Reports : Bolivia, Bolivia

Along with the majority of South America, Bolivia was colonized by Spain, which had a

Simon Bolivar, who had a reputation of being a liberator, took center stage. The common folk began to trust his words, as he talked about fighting for the resources that were theirs, ideals taken directly from the American Revolution itself. Also with the power struggle created by the Napoleonic wars, uprisings began. The most prominent of this movement was the uprising in Chuquisaca in 1809, which led to the formation of the Government Juntas. This group focused on taking the power from the Spanish and giving it to the people. Seeing the movement in Bolivia take shape, Latin Nations such as Peru began to provide military support to Bolivian liberators. Surprisingly, America didn’t live up to its reputation, having no negative impact on this revolution. Normally, America had been notorious for backing up the dictators or colonial powers and suppressing the Latin liberators. All in all, the combination of a power struggle brought upon by foreign wars, introduction of revolutionary independence ideals, proper leadership, and foreign aid, the Bolivian revolution was successful in liberating the nation from Spanish Colonial power after 16 years of conflict.

1. Bolivia has two capital cities: La Paz (the administrative capital) and Sucre (the judicial capital).

Since the Europeans first entered the Americas in the sixteenth century, indigenous groups have struggled to reclaim political and economic power from the Europeans and their descendants. With the exception of Peru and Bolivia, many countries feature a percentage of less than ten percent purely indigenous people, thus making circumstances unfavorable to create a political voice forceful enough to allow these native groups the political prowess they need (World Development Index). Even in countries with a large percentage of indigenous people, the rise to political power can be a slow process. However, in 2005, Bolivia elected their first president to office from native descent. As the United Nations assesses the perverse situations within indigenous rises to political power, a pristine case to evaluate would be that of Bolivia. With the election of Evo Morales, Bolivia began their empowerment of the indigenous population and encountered difficulties in providing necessities such as education and economic assistance to bridge the gap in social and economic separations of opportunity between the native and non-native populations.

Revolts and revolutions formed in throughout Latin America. In the lecture “Patterns of Colonial Revolts” Professor Villa-Flores stated, “(Colonization) No way to control them because of the crown not having resources to stop the violence. No professional army.” Violence broke out throughout Spanish America due to oppression based on race but also economic inequalities. While Brazil shared similar issues politically formed an empire while Spanish America completely changed their political system. Countries like Venezuela had one main leader Simon Bolivar who lead independence in multiple countries. Cudillismo became the dominate way of Spanish American nations to become independent. Cudillismo called for strong leaders rise up both militarily but also politically. In the film shown on November 29 presented how Cudillismo took hold in multiple counties like in Argentina José de San Martín and in Mexico Benito Juárez which brought radical change in their nations. In Spanish America many battles were fought for complete independence of the nations. Brazil on the other hand had little violence compared to Spanish America and remained with the shift power due to European struggles leading to independence to happen

Bolivia is full of mountainous terrain but is dominated by the Amazon jungle. Nearly ¾ of the population lives on the mountainous terrain because it is more of a plateau than a mountain. The tops of most of the mountains are flat, with some exceptions such Nevado Sajama and Uturuncu, which are volcanoes in Bolivia. The people who don’t live on the mountains are usually farmers or loggers. Both of Bolivia’s capitals are located on the flat mountain tops.

About 60 percent of the population is Indian, about 30 percent are mestizo, and 10 percent are of white descendants (Gamarra 1991). Geographical and regional areas maintain racial and cultural differences. These areas include the Altiplano (high plains) in the Andes, Mountains, the llanos (low lands near the amazon basin), and the Yungas (semitropical valleys). Before we take a look into the historical background of Bolivia, it is important to point out that this nation is amongst the least united countries in the South American continent.

Prior to Spanish discovery of the new world, the area now known as Bolivia was home to three major ethnic and linguistic groups; the Uru, Aymara, and Quechua. The Uru lived on rafts, fishing and foraging along the shore of Lake Titicaca. The Aymara dominated the Uru, reducing their status to poor fishermen and landless workers. Aymara society was built upon a basic social unit of kinship that organized the distribution of labor, and this system, termed “ayllu,” was later adopted by conquering Quechua. The Aymara are known for their practice of ‘freeze drying’ potatoes high in the mountains, for their organized systems of irrigation, and their control of colonies in warm

The whole western side of Bolivia is mountainous. The Andes Mountain Range is 4,500 miles long. Bolivia is mostly urban but a lot of their jobs is farming. They like to farm cocoa. The Northern part of Bolivia is the Amazon Rainforest. This helps them with resources, but it also takes up some of their land. Some of the biggest rivers from the rainforest are in Bolivia, which helps them with their transportation. Bolivia is many different types of biomes they are not just one.

The period between 1813 and July of 1814, known as the Second Republic, is in reality the Terrible Year of Venezuelan History. The “War to Death” decree creates a furor, and the combats and indecisive battles, won or lost, follow one upon the other with increasing rapidity. Despite important victories, Bolívar as well as General Santiago Mariño (who had previously liberated the eastern areas of the nation) find themselves obliged to give way in the face of a more numerous adversary led by the royalist José Tomás Boves.

The Americas, now known as Latin America, has gone through many changes in its history, from being conquered by Spain and Portugal, to the people fighting for its independence and finally, making a living as newly independent countries. From the years 1850 to the end of the 19th century, each region had influences, specifically those that dealt with the after effects colonial rule had on the land. Nations that made up Latin America began modifying different portions in their government in attempts to benefit the majority of the people. More or so, they accomplished this goal, each with their own challenges. Evidently, changes within the social, political and economic systems were focused on external factors.

The most common language spoken in Bolivia is Spanish. Some other common languages are Aymara and Tapiete. The first inhabitants of bolivian were Asian nomads. They are no longer around anymore. People in Bolivia pretty much eat the same thing as Americans like, corn, potatoes, quinoa,and beans. Bolivian life is way different than american life. In Bolivia people are more likely to die 11 years sooner, make 90% less money, and 3.2 times more likely to be murdered. Some good things are spending 98% less money on health care, using 95% less electricity, 80% less likely to be in prison, consume 90% less oil, and 50% less likely to have

Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Spain in 1808. He then removed the actual King and made his own brother the King of Spain. While Napoleon's brother was conquering Spain, many things had happened. For example, many landowners became rich by farming export crowds. Six years later in 1814, Napoleon ( along with his brother ) was defeated and the King was returned to his power. A few years later, Simon Bolivar had gained independence from Colombia,

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was officially founded when it declared and won itsindependence from the Spanish on July 5, 1811. They would fall under the influence and become a part ofthe Gran Colombia, a republic created by the man who liberated Venezuela, Simon Bolivar. However,Venezuela, under the leadership of Josè Antonio Paèz, who would go on to become the country’s firstofficial President on January 13, 1830. Although Venezuela would eventually democratically elect its firstPresident, President Romulo Gallegos would be overthrown in just eight months by General MarcosJimenez. However, 8 years later Jimenez would be forced into exile by the Venezuelan people, anddemocracy would reign, until Colonel Hugo Chavez would become President

The indigenous people in Paraguay were tired of fake promise from the regime. The dictator’s promise of helping indigenous people and the creation of department to address indigenous people problems did not commit their original purpose. This led to an indigenous mobilization an organization among the indigenous tribes among the country. The indigenous resistance was well organized by 1988, allying with groups that had opposite thought from the regime. Paraguayan’s were also unsatisfied with the regime path and did not agree in the path it was taking. The dictatorship fail was a victory for Paraguayan’s and their native’s people. Even though, Andres Rodriguez had a powerful military influence that help him and his followers to finish with the