Patricia Arce
María Patricia Arce Guzmán (born 6 May 1970) is a Bolivian lawyer and politician serving as senator for Cochabamba since 2020. A member of Movimiento al Socialismo, she also served as mayor of Vinto from 2015 to 2020.
Patricia Arce | |
|---|---|
_Chamber_of_Senators_of_Bolivia.jpg.webp) | |
| Senator for Cochabamba | |
| Assumed office 3 November 2020 | |
| Substitute | Hermo Pérez |
| Mayor of Vinto | |
| In office 30 May 2015 – 20 October 2020 | |
| Succeeded by | Julieta Alcocer Gonzales |
| Personal details | |
| Born | María Patricia Arce Guzmán 6 May 1970 Quillacollo, Bolivia |
| Political party | Movimiento al Socialismo |
| Occupation |
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Early life and career
Arce was born in Quillacollo on 6 May 1970,[1] being the youngest of 10 siblings. After studying high school and automotive mechanics, she graduated as a lawyer and later became a tax assistant in Chapare and coordinator of the Rural Patrol Mobile Unit. She gave seminars and was an advisor to peasant communities and entities.[2]
Mayor of Vinto
Arce was invited to be a candidate for Solidarity Civic Unity, which she rejected, and in 2015, Evo Morales offered her to run for mayor of Vinto, a municipality where she had lived for two decades. She thus joined the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS-IPSP) and won the local election.[2]
Within the framework of the 2019 Bolivian political crisis, on 6 November, Arce was lynched in public when a group of protesters entered the Vinto Municipality building to forcefully expel her under accusations of "counteracting" citizen mobilizations with miners, burning plus government facilities. She was kidnapped by a mob and dragged down the street, being forced to walk barefoot for several kilometers and suffering various physical attacks when she was beaten, shaved, and sprayed with red paint all over her body. She was rescued by police officers and treated at a hospital in Capinota. Despite the facts, she continued in the position of mayor.[2][3]
At the end of December 2019, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures in favor of Arce and her children "after considering that they are in a serious and urgent situation of risk of irreparable damage to their rights", noting that Arce had not received any protection scheme from the Bolivian State.[4]
Chamber of Senators
In the 2020 general elections, in which the presidential binomial of the MAS (Luis Arce (no relation)-David Choquehuanca) triumphed, Arce was elected senator for the Department of Cochabamba for the 2020-2025 legislative period, occupying second place on the list of incumbent candidates for the MAS. She took office in November of the same year.[5][6]
Other work
In 2018, Arce had received the International Maya Award.[2] She has worked as an Advisor to the Bartolina Sisa Women's Organization.[7]
References
- Lista de candidaturas de las Organizaciones Políticas y/o Alianzas (PDF) (in Spanish). Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. 3 February 2020. p. 2.
- "María Patricia Arce Guzmán, alcaldesa por el MAS: "Recibí golpes, me rociaron con gasolina y pintura roja"". NODAL (in Spanish). 16 January 2020.
- "Patricia Arce, la alcaldesa que fue linchada, rapada y vejada en público, ahora es senadora de Bolivia". El Español (in Spanish). 24 October 2020.
- "CIDH otorga medidas cautelares a favor de Maria Patricia Arce Guzmán, alcaldesa del Municipio de Vinto, en Bolivia" (in Spanish). Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 27 December 2019.
- Gilbert, Abel (20 October 2020). "Patricia Arce Guzmán, la otra gran ganadora en Bolivia". El Periódico (in Spanish).
- "Senadores titulares juraron y asumieron sus cargos para la nueva legislatura 2020 – 2025". Cámara de Senadores (in Spanish). 3 November 2020.
- "Pagina web Senado de Bolivia". Chamber of Senators.