Cary Gee talks to Esther Morales Ayma, the influential sister of Bolivia’s radical, trailblazing leader
LAST month, Bolivia approved a new constitution granting greater power to the country’s indigenous majority. After a long and bruising struggle with the right-wing opposition, President Evo Morales hailed a “new Bolivia”, overturning almost 600 years of colonial rule and a racist past that has marginalised the vast majority of the people, leaving them in abject poverty while the “Spanish” minority has grown very rich indeed. Morales won 67 per cent backing for the new constitution.
In the absence of a wife, the President asked his sister, Esther Morales Ayma, to fulfil the role of “Primera Dama”. She brought him up following the death of their mother. Despite her unhappiness with any official title, Esther has made the role her own by becoming an eloquent spokesperson for the poor, indigenous population in Bolivia.
To speak up on their behalf is the reason she has made her first visit to Britain – a country whose development and apparent wealth shocks her. Morales grew up in a rural area “without electricity, lights and running water”. However, she is confident that life is improving for poor Bolivians since the election of her brother. She talks enthusiastically about rural electrification and the road-building programmes
that have connected the Bolivian countryside to the cities. She says her
own life is now more different than she could ever have imagined.
“When I was young, I had to leave my home and go to the city to look for work as a domestic servant. I would never have imagined I would come to England. For 16 years, I paid rent. Only recently have I managed to buy a small house of my own.” Her house is made of adobe and she still washes her laundry by hand. A washing machine is a luxury.
“Before the election of Evo Morales, many trade union leaders were killed in an era of oppression, hatred and racism. Leaders who really care for their people are rare.” She lists a number of Bolivians who lost their lives fighting for freedom, before stating her admiration for Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez.
She believes they are on the side of social justice – “something we want for Bolivia and for the world”.
When asked what she would like to have done with her life, had she had the opportunities, Esther Morales answers flatly that: “There were no opportunities. We didn’t even have enough money to feed ourselves.” She has higher aspirations for her children and grandchildren – aspirations that will only be met: “When we have eradicated the situation where some people can eat and some can’t.”
Morales has no doubt that one of the greatest problems facing Bolivia – and Bolivian women in particular – is illiteracy.
“Women often can’t read. Sometimes we are asked to sign something and we are cheated.” She estimates that, before her brother’s election to the presidency, 80 per cent of the population did not have access to even basic education. “Now schooling and university education is provided free of charge.”
Under Evo Morales, the health of the nation has also improved significantly. “Many new healthcare projects are underway and hospitals are being built in rural areas which before had no access to health services. Even in the countryside, it is now possible to get an operation, where before there wasn’t even a nurse.”
She remembers being forced to travel to the city to receive medical attention. “A journey that could take 24 hours and inevitably cost a lot of money. “
I ask about the new constitution and she flashes a gold-toothed smile. She says the aim of it is to enhance and protect the life chances for future generations of Bolivians and she cannot wait to expand on the benefits she insists it will bring to the indigenous population in Bolivia.
In an attempt at more equitable land distribution, Bolivians were also asked to vote on whether future land holdings should be limited – to 5,000 or 10,000 hectares. Currently, the vast majority of land is held by the Spanish population – a situation Morales blames for the extreme poverty of the indigenous Bolivians. Proudly, she pins a button onto my jacket. It reads: “67 per cent say yes to the new constitution”.
Unsurprisingly, those who have lost land are unhappy and Morales predicts there will be trouble. “The big land-owners have made a pact with the right-wing leaders in opposition-controlled states. They intend to go against the decision of the people who voted for the new constitution. The right is offering support to the government in exchange for ‘help’ in implementing the new constitution.”
The President has agreed to meet opposition leaders to discuss their grievances, but is not prepared to give in to blackmail.
But what will happen if these differences cannot be resolved?
“It has to work”, says Esther Morales. “If not, we will have betrayed the people. The vote must be respected and the mobilisation of the people will continue. It does not stop here.”
She talks with obvious admiration about rural Bolivians who marched for up to a week to the capital La Paz to demonstrate their support for the constitution.
“The march was so big it resembled a snake, without a head or a tail”, she laughs. “We held a candle-lit vigil outside parliament while the constitution was being debated inside.”
Morales was invited to London by the Global Women’s Strike organisation and is grateful for the chance to meet and exchange ideas with many women from different parts of the world. She says she has not received an invitation to meet any British political leaders on her visit. However, while she has not encountered Gordon Brown, she has a message for him.
“The Prime Minister must feel for the people and what they are going through. He should not exclude anyone, so that all people can live their lives without discrimination.”
Can she imagine a time when Bolivia is ready to vote for its first female president and, if so, does she have any plans to stand? After Morales has finished laughing, she again quotes from the new constitution. This states that, in the future, if the president is a man, the vice-president must be a woman – and vice-versa. The new constitution also stipulates that public positions must be filled by a quota of 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women. “For the first time, we have indigenous women in parliament”, she adds with a smile.
After posing for photographs, Morales asks me to email the pictures to her directly. At first, I am surprised that she has access to a computer. But I should not be. This is the “new Bolivia”, after all.
