Plácida Espinoza

Plácida Espinoza Mamani (born 5 October 1948) is a Bolivian educator, politician, and trade unionist who served as senator for Oruro from 2015 to 2020.

Born into a rural indigenous community in central Oruro's Carangas Province, Espinoza began her professional career in the field of education, working as a schoolteacher and administrator and serving on her local school board. During this time, she began participating in her region's trade syndicates, holding positions within regular workers' unions before joining the women-specific Bartolina Sisa Federation.

An ethnic Aymara, Espinoza started taking up positions of traditional authority at a time when such posts began regaining their importance within native society. Through her marriage with a local indigenous leader, she assumed titles of local and regional importance, be it in the ayllu, the marka, or the suyu. This, coupled with her union roles, opened the door to politics, given the organic alliance formed between indigenous, peasant, and syndical organizations with the powerful Movement for Socialism. In 2014, Espinoza was elected as a senator for the party.

Early life and career

Early life and education Plácida Espinoza was born on 5 October 1948 in Chachacomani, a minor hamlet nestled in the northern Altiplano Plateau of central Oruro. The town, according to Aymara indigenous custom, is situated in the Mallcunaca Ayllu, a subdivision of the Corque Marka in the Jach'a Karangas Suyu—a region roughly corresponding to the borders of Oruro's Carangas Province.

Although raised in rural poverty at a time of particular social exclusion for women, Espinoza nonetheless managed to attain an education and prospered academically. She completed her primary schooling and initiated secondary at the Aniceto Arce and José Trifiro schools in the town of Corque before then moving to Oruro, where she attended the Marcos Beltrán Ávila Educational Unit, finally finishing out her secondary studies at the Antofagasta Lyceum. After that, Espinoza moved to Sucre, where she graduated as a teacher from the . In addition, she holds a postgraduate degree in education from the Higher Institute of Rural Education and completed specialization courses in media coverage at the Bolivian Catholic University's in Tiwanaku.

Returning to Corque, Espinoza worked as a professor at her former primary school, Aniceto Arce, an institute she later came to direct; she would also go on to teach at the Children of the Sun Educational Unit in Oruro. Espinoza's work in education opened paths for a career in civil service; she took jobs as a municipal agent and held a seat on her local school board, later serving as president of the Aymara Educational Council of La Paz in the early 2000s. Espinoza followed Álvarez's rise through the ranks of Aymara leadership, starting out with the title of mama awatiri of the Mallcunaca Ayllu before much later becoming mama t'alla of the Corque Marka between 2012 and 2013 and, finally, apu mama t'alla of the Jach'a Karangas Suyu from 2013 to 2015—titles denoting the maximum female indigenous authority within each respective polity. The established alliance between indigenous and peasant advocacy groups with the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP) provided an opening for her to contest public office in that year's general election. She was nominated for a seat in the Chamber of Senators, a position she won despite her less advantageous placement at the bottom of the party's electoral list, a product of the MAS's sweep over nearly the entirety of Oruro's parliamentary delegation that cycle.

Tenure Sworn in at the beginning of 2015, Espinoza joined other newly inaugurated female legislators in composing the largest caucus of peasant and indigenous women ever elected in Bolivian history. In a legislature noted for its historic number of young people, Espinoza stood out as one of the body's seniormost members, one of just a handful born before the National Revolution of 1952. Her tenure focused mainly on the rights of indigenous peoples, be it through the procurement of their political autonomy, preservation of their cultural artifacts, or promotion of historical traditions and folklore. At the end of her term, Espinoza was not nominated for reelection, reflecting the MAS's general disinterest in developing long political careers for the party's elected legislators in favor of promoting the incorporation of new faces in parliament.

Commission assignments

alt=Senators raise the left fist or swear on the cross as they take oaths of office.

State Security, Armed Forces, and Bolivian Police Commission (President: –) State Security and Fight Against Drug Trafficking Committee (Secretary: ) Territorial Organization of the State and Autonomies Commission Departmental Autonomies Committee (Secretary: –) Plural Economy, Production, Industry, and Industrialization Commission (President: ) Rural Native Indigenous Peoples and Nations and Interculturality Commission Rural Native Indigenous Peoples and Nations Committee (Secretary: –) International Policy Commission International Economic Relations Committee (Secretary: –) Land and Territory, Natural Resources, and Environment Commission (President: –) Ethics and Transparency Commission (–)

Electoral history + Year Office Party Votes Result . Total % . 2014 Senator Movement for Socialism 166,360 66.42% 1st Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ Electoral Atlas

Publications