Bartolina Sisa Confederation

The Bartolina Sisa National Confederation of Campesino, Indigenous, and Native Women of Bolivia (Confederación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas Indígenas Originarias de Bolivia “Bartolina Sisa”; CNMCIOB-BS; informally, the Bartolina Sisas) is the primary union organization of peasant women in Bolivia, and the women's organization with the largest membership in the country. The organization was founded as the Bartolina Sisa National Federation of Peasant Women of Bolivia in January 1980, shortly after the 1979 protests against the de facto presidency of Colonel Alberto Natuschfounding and the founding of the Unified Syndical Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB). The founding members were Lucila Mejía de Morales (the first executive), Irma García, Isabel Juaniquina and Isabel Ortega. The name Bartolina Sisa refers to the Aymara peasant leader of the 18th century, the wife of Túpac Katari, and reflects the strong influence of the Katarista movement in peasant politics. The current name was adopted in the organization's Organic Congress of 29–30 November 2008, redefining the organization as a confederation and adopting the phrase Campesino, Indigenous, and Native from the text of the new Bolivian constitution. Their main aims are to organize and facilitate women's participation in national terrain. They achieve these aims by giving indigenous women political, economic, cultural, and social decision making power; unifying peasant women's political, cultural, and social rights under a single framework; and promoting economic development on the basis of traditional peasant Indigenous peoples’ knowledge. Through this work their ultimate mission is the decolonization of women and encouragement of their equal and meaningful participation in protest. The Bartolina Sisa Confederation is a member of the Pact of Unity in Bolivia, and of the National Coordination for Change, and a constituent organization in the Movement toward Socialism party. The president of the Constituent Assembly in Bolivia, Silvia Lazarte, was elected Executive Secretary at the National level at the 8th national congress in April 1999.