Fernando Cajías

Fernando Cajías was born on 28 February 1949[1] in the Sopocachi neighborhood of La Paz to Huáscar Cajías and Beatriz de la Vega.[2] Cajías was raised in a highly academic environment; his father, the patriarch of the Cajías clan, was a respected journalist and intellectual, most notable for founding and directing Presencia, one of the leading periodicals of the second half of the twentieth century.[3] Cajías was the eldest of ten siblings: six sisters—Dora, Beatriz, Lupe, Magdalena, Martha Teresa, and Isabel—and three brothers—Francisco, Huáscar, and Pedro—a substantial majority of whom became distinguished authors, historians, journalists, professors, and public officials in their own right.[2]

Between 1955 and 1967, Cajías attended the Marshal Braun German School, where he completed his primary and secondary schooling.[4] After that, he attended the Higher University of San Andrés (UMSA), graduating with degrees in history, law, and political science;[5] his graduate thesis, La Provincia de Atacama, 1825–1842, was published by the Bolivian Institute of Culture in 1975.[1] Together with other figures, Cajías composes part of the first generation of professional historians and archivists in the country,[6] a group primarily consisting of alumni of Professor Alberto Crespo Rodas, a noted historian and twenty-year professor at the UMSA.[7] Shortly after graduating, Cajías traveled to Spain, where he completed his doctorate in History of the Americas at the University of Seville.[5]

Returning to Bolivia, Cajías dedicated himself to archival and educational activities at the UMSA, where he worked as a professor and researcher and served as the university's secretary general from 1978 to 1980.[3] Cajías also collaborated closely with the Bolivian Institute of Culture and its subsidiary bodies, serving as head of research and later director of the National Institute of History and Literature before becoming executive director of the Institute of Culture itself in 1982.[8][9] In other areas, Cajías chaired the Bolivian Society of History, was a member of the Bolivian Academy of History, and served as a counselor at the Central Bank of Bolivia's Cultural Foundation.[10]

Originally a conservative, Cajías realigned himself towards the left during the country's transition to democracy. He joined the Revolutionary Left Movement (MIR) in 1977, composing part of history academia's "Mirista-wing," a sizeable clique of partisan professors led by Crespo.[11] Exiled to Panama by the García Meza regime, Cajías returned to the country in 1982 and was elected to represent La Paz in the Chamber of Deputies on the MIR's 1985 party list.[3] He belonged to the second generation of MIR partisans, a group whose political careers began in conjunction with the fall of the military dictatorships and the reintroduction of democratic administration.[12] For those who stood out in their first elective role, the MIR typically promoted them from the lower to upper chamber, a sign of confidence in their electability. Such was the case with Cajías, who ran for a seat in the Senate in 1989, though he failed to attain the position.[3]

Despite the loss, Cajías remained close with party leadership and was appointed prefect of La Paz when Jaime Paz Zamora assumed the presidency.[3][13] After a short tenure focused on promoting the revitalization of La Paz's cultural traditions, Cajías was reassigned to serve as the country's ambassador to Spain, where he resided for the duration of Paz Zamora's term. Upon his return to Bolivia in 1993, Cajías was nominated to contest the La Paz mayoralty. Though unsuccessful in that effort, the MIR's electoral performance did net him a seat in the municipal council.[3] As the MIR's political image became tarnished by its top officials' links to drug trafficking and other forms of corruption, Cajías led the drive to move the party forward by expunging its "cardinal" figures from party leadership. However, such positions proved contentious among the party's partisans,[14][15] ultimately leading Cajías to defect from the MIR over its inability to modernize internally.[16] In 1995, he joined the 9 April Revolutionary Vanguard—a minor party primarily composed of defectors from other fronts—with which he sought reelection, though to no avail.[17]

Following his 1995 defeat, Cajías retired from political life, returning to his roots in academia. He resumed instruction at the UMSA, where he worked as a doctoral advisor and professor, teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in art and cultural history in his capacity as dean of humanities. As a visiting scholar, he also hosted lectures and taught courses at the Bolivian Catholic University and other national and foreign institutes.[9][18] In 2004, he unsuccessfully accompanied Iván Irazoque as a candidate for vice rector, losing in the second round to Roberto Aguilar and Jorge Ocampo.[19] Over a decade later, in 2021, he sought to be elected rector in his own right but was forced to withdraw after contracting COVID-19.[20][21]

In 2004, during the administration of Carlos Mesa, Cajías was appointed to serve as vice minister of cultures.[8] His selection represented a key characteristic of Mesa's government: the designation of intellectuals and academics—especially historians—to high executive positions, a product of the president's own academic origins.[10] In his final public post, Cajías was appointed to serve as director of research at the Strategic Directorate of the Maritime Claim, charged with reviewing historical documents between Bolivia and Chile for information that could bolster the country's lawsuit over territorial access to the Pacific Ocean.[1][22]

In his first marriage, Cajías was betrothed to Naya Ponce, minister of popular participation in the administration of Eduardo Rodríguez Veltzé, and daughter of noted archeologist Carlos Ponce Sanginés and anthropologist Julia Elena Fortún.[10][23] The pair had two children: Wara and José Gabriel,[24] the former of whom worked as a choreographer and stage director at various theaters in Bolivia and Germany.[25] Following his separation from Ponce, Cajías remarried with María de los Ángeles Urioste, with whom he had two more children: Andrés and Ana Catalina.[24]

• Vice-ministerial profile Vice Ministry of Cultures (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 January 2005.
• Fernando Cajías by Elías Blanco Mamani in the Bolivian Cultural Dictionary (in Spanish).
• Interview with Carlos Mesa on De Cerca (in Spanish).