Bolivian-Hispanic Amparo Carvajal, a historical human rights defender in Bolivia, has stood on vigil for more than 40 days outside the House of Human Rights in La Paz, which was her office for several decades, demanding its return to her. The 84-year-old woman has been living on the terrace of the house for three days, which she climbed up using a ladder. He sleeps in a tent, has no access to toilets, and presents a picture of dehydration. He cannot enter the office because it is occupied by another group of human rights activists who do not recognize Carvajal’s leadership. She told the press, “I’m going to die here. I won’t move
The place is surrounded by police and the veteran fighter’s supporters, including several opposition MPs. The government viewed it as “an issue between private parties,” but it has clear political connotations. Carvajal received support from the Catholic Church, non-governmental organizations, journalists’ associations and other institutions. Also by several opposition leaders, who denounced that the ignorance of the policy of the Permanent Assembly for Human Rights (APDHB), led by the former nun, aims to silence this NGO’s criticism of the government, as the other policy denies the organization. led by Edgar Salazar is reportedly close to the pro-government Movement for Socialism (MAS).
For his part, Salazar reiterates that he is only opposed to Carvajal’s “president for life” in the APDHB, affirming that she was sacked by an institutional congress in December 2021. From this sector, Carvajal has been criticized for allegedly following an agenda opposition and not defending the victims of the Sacaba and Senkata massacres that took place under the government of Jeanine Áñez in November 2019.
Carvajal was born in Riaño (León, Spain) in 1939 into a very Catholic family of 14 children. She came to Bolivia from Bérritz in 1971 as a Mercedarian nun. When the Order left the country in 1980, they decided to leave so they could stay. Previously, he had assisted the priest Gregorio Iriarte in founding the APDHB, which replaced the Catholic Church-dependent Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace after its dissolution by the dictatorship of General Hugo Banzer.
The new ecumenical organization played an important role in condemning the oppression of the military dictatorships and its leaders had to go into exile on more than one occasion. The APDHB sponsored struggles such as the hunger strike that snatched Banzer’s general and an unrestricted amnesty for political prisoners in 1978. During the democracy, it was a major center of protest against neoliberal policies that led to internal divisions already evident during the MAS -Governments ended. for political reasons in her department. This was fully exposed after the crisis that led to the fall of Evo Morales in 2019.
Carvajal is considered a hero by the grassroots groups that fought against Morales’ third presidential re-election. One of these groups campaigned to nominate her as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Carvajal has been very present in the protests against the imprisonment of former President Jeanine Añez, who was accused of conspiring to overthrow Morales. At the same time, he has been rejected by the ruling party, which says he has lost his earlier commitment to progressive causes and is now being “exploited by the right”.
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The two groups, who want to stay with the APDHB, have appealed to the court. Salazar’s faction has been under police protection since taking office on June 2 and is seen as a symbol of human rights in the country. Carvajal won a “freedom lawsuit” forcing the rival group to stop intimidating. The judges did not want to answer the most important question of who owns the institution due to a lack of conclusive elements. Without waiting for this to finally happen, Carvajal wages her umpteenth fight for justice as she understands it.
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