Lupe Cajías de la Vega (born 1955) is a

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 ...

n journalist, historian, and writer. Cajías has focused her career on journalism, though she is also the author of books such as ''Historia de una Leyenda, vida y palabra de Juan Lechín Oquendo'' (1988) and ''Valentina. Historia de una rebeldía''. Likewise, her career has been recognized with the

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

national award in 1986, as well as the Erich Guttentag Award for the novel ''Valentina. Historia de una rebeldía'' in 1996 (this award was replaced by the

National Novel Award The National Novel Award (''Premio Nacional de Novela'') is one of the main literary awards given annually in Bolivia. It is convened by the Ministry of Cultures, and originally sponsored by Grupo Santillana, through the Alfaguara publishing house ...

two years later).

Biography

Lupe Cajías was born in the city 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 ...

, Bolivia in 1955. She studied journalism, with a focus in the area of research, at the

Pontifical Xavierian University The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (English: Xavierian Pontifical University) is a private university in Colombia founded in 1623. It is one of the oldest and most traditional Colombian universities, directed by the Society of Jesus, with its ...

in Bogotá, from which she graduated with honors. She also studied history at the

Higher University of San Andrés Universidad Mayor de San Andrés or UMSA () is the leading public university in Bolivia, established since 1830 in the city of La Paz. UMSA is the second-oldest university in Bolivia, after the University of San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca ( ...

. She witnessed the return of democracy to Bolivia on 10 October 1982, having given birth to her first child a few days before. In her role as a journalist, Cajías was also editor of '' El Tiempo'' in Bogotá, and later became a columnist for the Bolivian newspapers ''

Los Tiempos ''Los Tiempos'' () is a newspaper published in Cochabamba, Bolivia. By 2013, its circulation reached 45,000 copies. Since October 2017, the newspaper is published in Berliner. Prior to this, the newspaper was a broadsheet. History ''Los Tiempo ...

'' and ''

Página Siete ''Página Siete'' was a daily newspaper published in La Paz, Bolivia. It was founded on 24 April 2010. ''Página Siete'' focused on politics and economics, but it also had social and culture sections. The government of Evo Morales Juan Evo M ...

''. Similarly, she served as editor-in-chief of the weekly ''Aquí''. Also, Cajías was elected as president of the Association of Journalists of La Paz in 2014. During this period she carried out a series of actions in favor of freedom of expression, which, according to the APLP, was limited by the actions of the government of

Evo Morales Juan Evo Morales Ayma (; born 26 October 1959) is a Bolivian politician, trade union organizer, and former cocalero activist who served as the 65th president of Bolivia from 2006 to 2019. Widely regarded as the country's first president to come ...

. Her term ended in 2016, when Nelson Martínez won new elections within the union. Cajías also ventured into the field of politics when she was responsible for the anti-corruption department from 2003 to 2005, during the presidency of

Carlos Mesa Carlos Diego de Mesa Gisbert (; born 12 August 1953) is a Bolivian historian, journalist, and politician who served as the 63rd president of Bolivia from 2003 to 2005. As an independent politician, he had previously served as the 37th vice pr ...

. She was a founding member of the Huáscar Cajías Cultural Foundation. Continuing with her professional career, Cajías was a teacher at the Higher University of San Andrés, where she had been a student during her history studies. In the same capacity, she teaches at the .

Works

* ''Valentina. Historia de una rebeldía'' (1966) Novel. Erich Guttentag Award. * ''El Presente es de lucha, el futuro es nuestro'' (1983) Essay * ''Historia de una leyenda, vida y palabra de Juan Lechín Oquendo'' (1988) Biography * ''Biografía de Flavio Machicado Viscarra'' (1994) Biography * ''Los caminos de Nuevos Horizontes'' (2007) Essay * ''Morir en mi cumpleaños'' (2011) Fictionalized biography of Óscar Únzaga * ''Nueva crónica y buen gobierno'' (2012) Chronicle, in conjunction with other authors

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cajias, Lupe 1955 births 20th-century biographers 20th-century journalists 21st-century biographers 21st-century journalists Cajías family Bolivian women journalists Living people Pontificia Universidad Javeriana alumni Women biographers Writers from La Paz 21st-century Bolivian women writers 20th-century Bolivian women writers