Luminos is the Open Access monograph publishing program from UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with the same high standards for selection, peer review, production, and marketing as those in our traditional program. www.luminosoa.org The Indigenous State The Indigenous State Race, Politics, and Performance in Plurinational Bolivia Nancy Postero UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advanc- ing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2017 by Nancy Postero Suggested citation: Postero, Nancy. The Indigenous State: Race, Politics, and Performance in Plurinational Bolivia. Oakland: University of California Press, 2017. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.31 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Postero, Nancy Grey, author. Title: The indigenous state : race, politics, and performance in plurinational Bolivia / Nancy Postero. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017001238 (print) | LCCN 2017003613 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520294035 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520967304 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Bolivia—Politics and government—21st century. | Morales Ayma, Evo, 1959—Political activity. | Indigenous peoples—Bolivia—Government relations—21st century. | Multiculturalism—Political aspects—Bolivia—21st century. | Neoliberalism—Bolivia—21st century. | Bolivia—Ethnic relations—Political aspects—21st century. Classification: LCC F3327 .P674 2017 (print) | LCC F3327 (ebook) | DDC 984.05/4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001238 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Figures vi Acknowledgments vii Introduction: The “Cultural Democratic Revolution” of Evo Morales 1 Part One. Refounding the State 1. The Emergence of Indigenous Nationalism in Bolivia: Social Movements and the MAS State 25 2. The Constituent Assembly: Challenges to Liberalism 41 3. Wedding the Nation: Spectacle and Political Performance 64 Part Two. Development and Decolonization 4. Living Well? The Battle for National Development 91 5. Race and Racism in the New Bolivia 116 6. From Indigeneity to Economic Liberation 137 7. Charagua’s Struggle for Indigenous Autonomy 158 Conclusion: Between Politics and Policing 178 Notes 189 Credits for Previously Published Materials 194 References 195 Index 219 List of Figures 1. Map of Bolivia xii 2. Guaraní women at the inauguration of the 2006 Constituent Assembly 3 3. Celebrating the inauguration of the 2006 Constituent Assembly 4 4. President Evo Morales at an “Andean” ceremony at Tiwanaku in 2015 celebrating his 2014 reelection 36 5. Depiction of the anti-colonial leader Túpac Katari at the 2015 celebration at Tiwanaku 36 6. Poster for the 2006 Constituent Assembly 45 7. Amautas, or Andean spiritual practitioners, at an international meeting in Cochabamba in 2012 75 8. The advancing agricultural frontier in Santa Cruz 108 9. Morales election campaign poster 112 10. Morales supporters at a 2013 rally in Cochabamba 113 11. Morales supporter at a 2013 rally in Cochabamba 113 12. Indigenous women protesters in the 2011 TIPNIS march 117 13. 2011 TIPNIS march 124 14. 2011 TIPNIS march 125 15. Middle-class neighborhoods in La Paz 147 vi Acknowledgments As I bring to a close nearly ten years of work on this project, I find myself enor- mously indebted to a huge group of people, both in Bolivia and the United States. My research, thinking, and writing are the products of many collaborations, and although I am the “author,” this book, like all texts, is in reality multi-authored. (I do bear responsibility for the errors, of course.) I am grateful to all those who shared their lives, their ideas, their scholarship, and their passion with me. I hope it is adequately reflected in these pages. First, let me acknowledge the generous support I have received for my research from the University of California San Diego Academic Senate Committee on Research (2012, 2013, 2015); University of California Center for New Racial Studies (2012); and the Wenner-Gren Foundation (2008, 2015). Turning to Bolivia, I start my thanks with the Guaraní of Santa Cruz, with whom I have shared twenty years of discussions, endless meetings, long bus rides, late nights, and laughter. The Capitanía Zona Cruz and its leaders and members continue to be my center in Bolivia, where I learn about politics in all its dimen- sions. No matter when I arrive, they invite me right in to the meetings, fill me in on all the latest, and share their opinions. I am honored by this trust and inspired by the practice of everyday politics they carry out. The family I call the Taperas in the community I call Bella Flor have made me feel like family for all these years. I thank them for the many hundreds of hours we have spent analyzing the Boliv- ian political scene together. I especially thank “Samuel” and “Mónica” for their insights in and experiences with the politics and practices of lowlands indigenous organizations. Samuel also accompanied me to Charagua for the first time, con- necting me to his kin and colleagues. Yasoropai. vii viii Acknowledgments In La Paz, I am lucky to have been embraced by another family, the Calla Orte- gas. Julio Calla continues to amaze me with his life force and compassion. On his eightieth birthday in 2015, he swapped stories, told jokes, and danced all night. Thanks to him and the rest of the La Paz gang, Ricardo and Jenny, Nano and Gabby, Andrés and Kantuta, Pablo and Oriana, for many happy Sundays eating, talking, and thinking. To Pamela, Tom, Benjamin and Julia Elena, now in New York, my deepest thanks for the many years of friendship. Over thirty years of talking politics together and we’re still going strong! And in Santa Cruz, I thank my dear friend Wendy Townsend, who always opens her house to me when I am in the lowlands. Thanks, sister! I am grateful for the many discussions with engaged intellectuals and schol- ars across Bolivia. These include: Xavier Albó, Eliana Arkirakis, Walter Arteaga, Diego Ayo, Rosanna Barragán, Rafael Bautista, Luís Bredow, Hernando (Nano) Calla Ortega, Ricardo Calla Ortega, Isabel Cómbes, José de la Fuente, María Galindo, Fernando Garcés, Javier Gómez, Juan Carlos Guzmán, Roberto Laserna, Pablo Mamani Ramírez, Carmen Medeiros, Adolfo Mendoza, José Mirtenbaum, Ramiro Molina, Oscar Olivera, Julieta Paredes, Sarela Paz, Paula Peña, Pedro Por- tugal, Raúl Prada, Hernan Prudén, Pablo Regalsky, Carlos Revilla, Jurgen Riester, Gonzalo Rojas, Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Alison Spedding, Leonardo Tamburini, Luís Tapia, Nico Tassi, Esteban Ticona, Jorge Viaña, Alcides Vadillo Pinto, Oscar Vega Camacho, Adrian Waldman, and Fabian Yaksic. I thank the researchers and librarians of the following organizations, whose long-term on-the-ground research is essential for understanding Bolivia: APCOB (Apoyo para el Campesino-Indígena del Oriente, Santa Cruz), CEDLA (Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Laboral y Agrario, La Paz), CEJIS (Centro de Estudios Jurídicos e Investigación Social, Santa Cruz), CIPCA (Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado, La Paz and Charagua), THOA (Taller de Historia Oral Andina, La Paz), UNITAS (Unión Nacional de Instituciones para el Trabajo de Acción Social), and Fundación Tierra. These groups carry out their excellent work despite increasing threats and reduced funding. Special thanks to the staff of CIPCA Charagua for all their help during my visits to observe the autonomy process. I thank: Alejandra Anzaldo, Magali Gutierrez, María Elena Moreira, and Santiago Puerta, as well as their hard-working staff. I had critical assistance from the anthropologist Tatiana Ramos, who shared her work on the collective mar- riages research in La Paz, and Olga Yana, who transcribed audiotapes. I also thank the sociologist Jorge Derpic for introducing me to leaders of the El Alto commu- nity I describe in chapter 6. I could not have carried out this research on the state without the generous cooperation of many people who work in government institutions, at the national, departmental, and municipal levels. To these officials and to their staffs, who coor- dinated my interviews and observations, I am very grateful. In La Paz, I thank: Vice Acknowledgments ix Minister of Decolonization Felix Cárdenas; Vice Minster of Indigenous Autono- mies Gonzalo Vargas Rivas; directors of the Depatriarcalization Unit Esperanza Huanca and Dora Arteaga Alanoca. In Santa Cruz: Defensor del Pueblo Hernán Cabrera; Secretary of Indigenous Peoples at the Gobernación of Santa Cruz Julio César López; staff at the Ministry of Autonomies, including Alfredo Carri and Mer- cedes Nossa; and the Asambleista Indígena to the Santa Cruz Legislative Assembly, Ruth Yarigua (Guaraní, Charagua Norte). In Charagua, I thank Mayor Benjamín Solano and his staff (who put up with me right in the middle of their big Cumbre event), Diputado Abilio Vaca, and Consejal Silvia Eugenia Canda. I particularly thank the lowland indigenous leaders who shared their organiza- tions’ political projects and processes with me. In Santa Cruz, I thank the leaders of the Capitanía Zona Cruz; the mburuvicha guasus (capitan grandes) of “Bella Flor” and “El Paraiso,” Justa Cabrera and Gregorio Flores of Jorori; and Ronald Gómez, president of the Consejo de Capitanes Guaranís de Santa Cruz. In Charagua, I thank the capitanes of the four capitanías (Charagua Norte, Parapetiguasu, Bajo, and Alto Izozog).