Freddy Mamani

Freddy Mamani Laura (born 8 December 1974) is a Bolivian educator, politician, and trade unionist who served as president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Movement for Socialism, he has served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz since 2020. He previously served as executive secretary of the National Confederation of Rural Teachers of Bolivia and as departmental executive of the Federation of Rural Teachers of La Paz. Prior to entering politics, Mamani worked as a teacher, serving as the principal of various rural schools in the department.

Early life and career An ethnic Aymara, Freddy Mamani was born on 8 December 1974, one of eight children born to Bonifacio Mamani and Silveria Laura, both agricultural producers. Mamani was raised in Laramcota, a minor hamlet near Achiri in La Paz's Pacajes Provinces, where he completed his primary schooling. He graduated from secondary school in Achiri before briefly moving to La Paz, where he fulfilled his term of mandatory military service as part of the Army General Staff in Miraflores.

Mamani attended the René Barrientos Higher Normal Institute in Caracollo, Oruro, graduating with degrees in educational sciences, intercultural bilingual education, and communication and language, with a master's in education management. As a teacher, Mamani worked in various rural communities in the Altiplano and Yungas regions, where he taught middle school literature for two years. During his career, Mamani's colleagues encouraged him to join the local teachers' union. He served for two years as executive of the Departmental Federation of Rural Teachers of La Paz (FDMERLP), later rising to become executive secretary of the National Confederation of Rural Teachers of Bolivia (CONMERB), where he served for four years. Mamani won the seat and was re-nominated in 2020 after the 2019 results were annulled, being elected again to the same position. The MAS majority in the Chamber of Deputies formally elected Mamani on 3 November 2020, making him the first representative of the rural education sector to hold the post, a position he pledged to use to promote the passage of education-related legislation.

Though similar internal disputes generated two competing MAS candidates the following year, Mamani was unable to formulate the same agreements to secure a third term in office. With neither La Paz's Freddy López nor Santa Cruz's Jerges Mercado willing to support the other, Mamani opted to suspend the session convened to elect a new directorate, giving the competing factions three days to reach an agreement. However, in his absence, supporters of Mercado went ahead with the election, enlisting the support of the parliamentary opposition to secure his accession to the presidency.

Mamani is aligned with the MAS's Evista party line, the faction closest to former president and party leader Evo Morales. During his presidency, he combatted opposition obstruction during the election of the chamber's directorate in 2021 and its Ethics Commission in 2022 by conducting legislative sessions with minimal advance notice or in different parliamentary facilities. In September 2022, after four failed votes, Mamani approved a last-minute change in parliamentary agenda to facilitate the election of Pedro Callisaya as the country's next ombudsman, taking advantage of the absence of over thirty opposition legislators, who were on leave for various reasons.

Commission assignments Chamber of Deputies Directorate (President; 3 November 2020 – 4 November 2022) Planning, Economic Policy, and Finance Commission Science and Technology Committee (16 November 2022 – present)

Electoral history + Year Office Party Votes Result . Total % . 2019 Deputy Movement for Socialism 887,271 53.16% 1st 2020 Movement for Socialism 1,162,949 68.36% 1st Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ Electoral Atlas