Conscience of the Fatherland (, abbreviated CONDEPA) was a
populist
Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The party was led by
Carlos Palenque
Carlos Palenque (28 June 1944, La Paz – 8 March 1997) was a Bolivian musician, singer and politician known to his fans as ''the Compadre''. He died of a heart attack. He was the founder of RTP and CONDEPA, and a presidential candidate in 198 ...
.
Goals
CONDEPA was founded in
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku ( or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilometers and in ...
on September 21, 1988.
The party was primarily based in the
La Paz Department.
CONDEPA was the first major party in Bolivia that appealed to the cultural identity of the
Aymaras
The Aymara or Aimara (, ) people are an Indigenous people in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America. Approximately 2.3 million Aymara live in northwest Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru. The ancestors of the Aymara lived in the reg ...
, the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology)
In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
majority of the country.
It borrowed ''
katarista'' symbols and used the
wiphala
The Wiphala (, ) is a square emblem commonly used as a flag to represent some native peoples of the Andes that include today's Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, northwestern Argentina and southern Colombia.
The 2009 Constitution of Bolivia (Article ...
flag. Palenque often used references to Aymara culture in his campaigns.
Election history
The party won strong support amongst urban poor, amongst Aymaras that had migrated to the urban centres.
CONDEPA lost the mayoral post of
La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
in 1995.
At the time of the
1999 elections the CONDEPA was a party in crisis.
[ p. 406] It was discredited by having entered into
Hugo Banzer
Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again ...
's government.
The party had suffered the death of its leader Carlos Palenque, and divisions had erupted amongst his successors. Moreover, the influence of the mass media connected to the party had decreased significantly.
As the party lost the municipal contest in
El Alto
El Alto (Spanish for "The Heights") is the List of Bolivian cities by population, second-largest city in Bolivia, located adjacent to La Paz in Pedro Domingo Murillo Province on the Altiplano highlands. El Alto is today one of Bolivia's fastest- ...
in these elections, it lost its last remaining political stronghold in the country.
Ahead of the
2002 general election, CONDEPA launched Nicolás Valdivia as its presidential candidate and Esperanza Huanca as vice-presidential candidate. CONDEPA lost all of its 22 seats in the
Congress of Bolivia
The Plurinational Legislative Assembly () is the national legislature of Bolivia, placed in La Paz, the country's seat of government.
The assembly is bicameral, consisting of a lower house (the Chamber of Deputies or ) and an upper house (the ...
in the elections. The implosion of CONDEPA enabled the nascent
Movement for Socialism
Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the 2005 Bolivian general election, December 2005 el ...
to gain a wide following amongst indigenous urban poor.
CONDEPA-Patriotic Movement lost its registration at the National Electoral Court shortly after the 2002 election.
See also
*
List of political parties in Bolivia
References
{{Reflist
Defunct political parties in Bolivia
Political parties established in 1988
1988 establishments in Bolivia
Political parties disestablished in 2002
2002 disestablishments in Bolivia