Authority 4

The following are essential purposes and functions of the State, in addition to those established in the Constitution and the law: 1. To construct a just and harmonious society, built on decolonisation, without discrimination or exploitation, with full social justice, in order to strengthen the Pluri-National identities.

Article 9, 1  of the Bolivian Constitution.

The Bolivian constitution was drafted after the 2006 election of Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales.

The experience of colonial subjugation impacts identities in Bolivia to this day. Long after the formal end of colonial rule in 1825, asymmetrical power relations in terms of race, gender and class still prevail. However, there is now a (vice) ministry for decolonisation (including a director for de-patriachalisation), and a centre for the rehabilitation of the country's indigenous majority after 500 years of colonial rule. In 2020, Silvia Lazarte was appointed the first indigenous woman President of the Constitutional Assembly (laestrella.com, 30.06.2020).

*Interview with Elisa Vega Sillo (2015): Decolonizing Bolivia’s History of Indigenous Resistance. *Decolonizing Bolivian Education (2010): A Critical Look at the Plurinational State’s Vision.

2009