Cocalero

Cocalero follows the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia and the significances of this election for the indigenous peoples of the country. These people backed him wholeheartedly with their unions because he represented them more than any other candidate had. He was one of them. He knew what it was like to be a coca farmer and the injustices they felt and the hardships that they went through. His election to the position of President of Bolivia was a mile marker in history and is possibly one of the most historical events that we have covered in this class; he marks the first ever popularly elected indigenous person into the presidency. This was a triumph for indigenous people in Bolivia and all over South America. This election signaled hope for the people who for hundreds of years had been taken advantage of and had their land taken by Spanish and European peoples.

The plight of indigenous peoples in South America has no been one of triumphs or joys. It has been one of being dominated and discrimination since the arrival of Europeans. When they arrived, native peoples had been living and working the land for over 10,000 years and had their own societies and way of doing things. Powerful families were over the groups but land was a communal thing and labor was split equally between the people. After the arrival of these new people everything changed and they were forced into working for these conquistadors and somehow manage to still provide for themselves and local markets which were dependent on local products which still holds true today. (Field 40-41)

Finally in the nineties the indigenous peoples of Ecuador made a stand and marched on the capital to finally reclaim the land that for thousands of years had been theirs. There were three crucial marches from 1990 to 1992. The first of which was covered in Les Fields article but ended up with very little actually getting done in favor of the Indians. Sawyer’s article covers the march in 1992 and the small successes that were achieved for the community. It seems as if in both articles the main issues that keep these people from reclaiming their lands is the prejudice held by everyone about them and what they want. They don’t want the land that is not rightfully theirs and they are productive people just not by modern day economy standards. Because they don’t cut down trees in the Amazon and use modern day technologies, they are not considered productive which is contradictory to Ecuador’s motto of, “Ecuador was, is and shall be an Amazonian country”. (Sawyer 76) If there is no Amazon than one cannot be a country of it. The biggest issues in getting the land is all about silly wording of what it is these people want and what they should be considered.  “They demanded the legalization and autonomous control of ancestral “territory” (not land) belonging to Indian “nationalities” (not ethnic groups). Throughout the negotiations, the government insisted that it adjudicated only “land” and, with respect to Indians, only to “ethnic” communities. The debate over these terms was a struggle over meaning, legitimacy, history, and identity. “ (Sawyer 77) This is all just legal mumbo jumbo that keeps the government in power over people that it does not think should have anything that keeps them from making money.

These struggles signify how much this election could mean for the indigenous people of Bolivia but possibly for the people of other South American countries like Ecuador who clearly have prejudices towards indigenous peoples. It is even shown in the movie the prejudices that people in Bolivia had towards Evo just because he was an indigenous farmer.