Indigenous Institutional Reformer
By Víctor Hugo Cárdenas
hroughout my life, I have
fought to eradicate racism and
discrimination. In the 1940s, my
father had to change his Indigenous
last name (Choquehuanca) to a
Spanish name (Cárdenas) just to
enroll in school. In high school and college,
I suffered discrimination because of my
skin color and rural roots. And during the
Bolivian dictatorships of the 1970s, as a
young political activist, I was the victim of
political repression.
In 2009, when I criticized the new
Bolivian Constitution, people close to the
current government broke into my home
and attacked my wife, children and relatives.
The Banzer and García Meza dictatorships of
the past were always merciless toward me,
but they never touched my family.
The party I helped form and lead, the
Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Katari
de Liberación (MRTKL), helped contribute
to the National Governability Program—
which was sponsored by the Inter-American
Development Bank and produced research
on governance issues—and the Legislative
Modernization Committee. MRTKL’s
efforts helped lead to the reform of
districts and election laws that increased
the participation and representation of
Indigenous peoples, education reform,
decentralization, and the recognition of
Indigenous territorial rights.
SOMEONE: FIRST LASTNAME
Former Bolivian Vice
President Víctor Hugo
Cárdenas, who also ran
against President Evo
Morales in 2009, in La
Paz, February 7, 2012.
“The Banzer and García Meza
dictatorships of the past were
always merciless toward me, but
they never touched my family.”
Americas Quarterly SPRING 2012
81
