Jenaro Flores Santos
Encyclopedia
Jenaro Flores Santos is a Bolivia
n trade union
leader and politician
.
Flores Santos was the founder of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, or CSUTCB. He also played a prominent role in formulating katarismo as a distinct trend in the social and political struggles in Bolivia.
Flores Santos did his military service in the Waldo Ballivián Regiment in 1965. During his military service he witnessed the suppression of the popular militias (created after the 1952 revolution), an event that impacted his political orientation. Later he began studies at the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. There he founded, along with other students from his home province, the Julián Apaza University Movement (MUJA). From 1968, Flores Santos emerged as the leader of the La Paz-based Aymara nucleus of peasant activists that sought to challenge the Military-Peasant Pact.
In January 1969, Flores Santos became the local head of the trade union in Antipampa, and two months later he became the union head for the Aroma province
. In June 1969 he became the executive secretary of the La Paz Department Farmer-Labourers Federation (FDTCLP). In connection with his arrival to the FDTCLP leadership, the name "Túpaj Katari" was added the name of the organization.
In 1970 Flores Santos took part in agrarian struggles in the La Paz Department, with land seizures. These moves were later legalized through an agrarian reform the same year. In August 1971, at its sixth congress (organized by the government), Flores Santos was elected executive secretary of the National Farmer-Labourer Confederation of Bolivia (Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, CNTCB).
In 1971 Flores Santos was forced into exile to Chile
. He returned the next year to organize underground resistance against the military government.
In 1978 he was one of the founders of the Tupaj Katari Revolutionary Movement (MRTK).
On June 26, 1979 the CSTUCB was founded with Flores Santos as its founding executive secretary. In November 1979 he led struggles against a new military coup, organizing blockades of highways across the country. During the military government of García Meza, he served as the clandestine executive secretary of the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB). The coup of García Meza had caught the COB leadership by surprise, and only Flores Santos, who had left a COB leadership meeting to make a telephone call, had escaped arrest. This was the first time a peasant leader was in charge of COB. His tenure as COB leader ended after being shot by a military patrol on June 18, 1981, after which he was paralyzed.
In the 1980s, the katarista movement was divided into two political parties. Flores Santos became the leader of one of them, FULKA.
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
leader and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Flores Santos was the founder of the Confederación Sindical Única de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, or CSUTCB. He also played a prominent role in formulating katarismo as a distinct trend in the social and political struggles in Bolivia.
Flores Santos did his military service in the Waldo Ballivián Regiment in 1965. During his military service he witnessed the suppression of the popular militias (created after the 1952 revolution), an event that impacted his political orientation. Later he began studies at the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. There he founded, along with other students from his home province, the Julián Apaza University Movement (MUJA). From 1968, Flores Santos emerged as the leader of the La Paz-based Aymara nucleus of peasant activists that sought to challenge the Military-Peasant Pact.
In January 1969, Flores Santos became the local head of the trade union in Antipampa, and two months later he became the union head for the Aroma province
Aroma Province
Aroma is one of the twenty provinces of the Bolivian La Paz Department and is situated in the department's southern parts.- Location :Aroma province is located between 16° 43' and 17° 35' South and between 67° 22' and 68° 23' West...
. In June 1969 he became the executive secretary of the La Paz Department Farmer-Labourers Federation (FDTCLP). In connection with his arrival to the FDTCLP leadership, the name "Túpaj Katari" was added the name of the organization.
In 1970 Flores Santos took part in agrarian struggles in the La Paz Department, with land seizures. These moves were later legalized through an agrarian reform the same year. In August 1971, at its sixth congress (organized by the government), Flores Santos was elected executive secretary of the National Farmer-Labourer Confederation of Bolivia (Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores Campesinos de Bolivia, CNTCB).
In 1971 Flores Santos was forced into exile to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. He returned the next year to organize underground resistance against the military government.
In 1978 he was one of the founders of the Tupaj Katari Revolutionary Movement (MRTK).
On June 26, 1979 the CSTUCB was founded with Flores Santos as its founding executive secretary. In November 1979 he led struggles against a new military coup, organizing blockades of highways across the country. During the military government of García Meza, he served as the clandestine executive secretary of the Central Obrera Boliviana (COB). The coup of García Meza had caught the COB leadership by surprise, and only Flores Santos, who had left a COB leadership meeting to make a telephone call, had escaped arrest. This was the first time a peasant leader was in charge of COB. His tenure as COB leader ended after being shot by a military patrol on June 18, 1981, after which he was paralyzed.
In the 1980s, the katarista movement was divided into two political parties. Flores Santos became the leader of one of them, FULKA.