Elsa Cladera de Bravo explained

Elsa Cladera de Bravo
Birth Date:3 February 1922
Birth Place:Oruro, Bolivia
Death Place:Fribourg, Switzerland
Resting Place:“Cementerio General” in La Paz, Bolivia
Occupation:Meritorious Teacher, Trade Union Leader
Known For:Representations: Delegate at the “Asamblea del Pueblo” in 1971. Leader of the teachers organization in Bolivia (1964–1971). Member of the leadership of the “Alianza de Liberación de la Mujer Americana” (ALMA). One of the founders of the “Unión de Mujeres de Bolivia” (UMBO). Representative of UMBO at the Women's World Conference 1972.
Spouse:Fernando Bravo James
Children:Elsa Nadezhda, Emma Bolshia, María Alexandra

Elsa Cladera de Bravo (María Rosaura Elsa Cladera Encinas de Bravo [ma'ria ro'sauwra 'elsa kla'dera en'sinas de 'braßo] Spanish pronunciation). (1922–2005) was a Bolivian trade union leader and educator,[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] leader of the teachers organisation in Bolivia, delegate at the "Asamblea del Pueblo" in 1971, engaged in the work for women's emancipation[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Biography

Social and political awareness

Both of Elsa Cladera Encinas’ parents belonged to well known families in Oruro. Her father, Carlos Cladera Zelada was a lawyer, mayor of Oruro and member of the Supreme Court. He was among the pioneers who were in favor of the nationalization of the Standard Oil Company. Elsa's grandfather, Froilán Cladera Cabanero, was the founder of the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Técnica de Oruro and the first vice-chancellor there.[11] [12] When young, Elsa had worked as her father's assistant at the tribunal. Elsa's mother, Florinda Encinas San Martín, was from a wealthy family in Oruro. Both her mother and her great aunt, Dorotea Encinas, provided advice and financial help to people who were in need. Therefore, Elsa learned the importance of sharing with others from her mother and her great aunt. The seeds of Elsa's social awareness were sown both by the quest for justice on the part of her father and by the generosity of her mother.[13]

The working and living conditions of the miners in Oruro around 1942-1952 were a further factor in raising Elsa's political and social consciousness. During this time Elsa had watched the miners’ demonstrations as they came down from the mines around Oruro voicing their demands for social justice. Elsa attended left groups with other young people where they discussed workers’ power, social and political justice.[14] She was then able to fully appreciate the nature of the demands of the miners.[15] [16]

A third factor that consolidated her social and political awareness was her meeting with Fernando Bravo James (Potosí 1912-La Paz 1962). He was a politician, a Trotskyite, a revolutionary,[17] [18] a university lecturer at the Universidad Técnica de Oruro and the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés[19] as well as a teacher. The first time Elsa caught sight of Fernando was when he was leading a demonstration protesting the massacre of miners in Catavi (1942).[20] [21] [22] [23] It was love at first sight and they eventually married in 1943 and later they had three daughters.

Women's participation

Elsa affirmed that effective women's participation in national and international development would only come about through social struggle and that without such participation on the part of women it would in reality be impossible to reach genuine national independence.[24]

She belonged to two women's organizations “Alianza de Liberación de la Mujer Americana” (ALMA)[25] and “Unión de Mujeres de Bolivia” (UMBO).[26] She was a member of the leadership of ALMA in 1960. She was also among the founders of UMBO and delegate of UMBO to the “Seminario Mundial de la Mujer” (Women's World's Conference) that was held in Chile in 1972.

The policies of ALMA included propagating for women's emancipation and equal political rights, the defense of universal suffrage and the demand for equal pay for equal work.[27]

UMBO is a national organization of an anti-imperialistic and anti-feudal nature through involvement in the struggle for peoples’ liberation, for their right to self determination, against foreign intervention in internal affairs, for respect for human rights, for promoting rights and opportunities for women equal to those of men in the administration and affairs of state.[28]

Trade union leader

Testimony of Elsa's solidarity with the working class is evident from her energetic, authoritative and crucial work. Her efforts to create a durable relationship between the teacher's trade union and the central umbrella unions for all workers in Bolivia: Central Obrera Departamental (COD) of La Paz and Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) which have been of such immense importance to Bolivia.[29] [30] She was not only respected as a trade union leader but also genuinely loved by the people as one of her colleagues said. As a trade unionist leader she proposed radical measures, for example, better economic conditions for teachers, workers’ power, weapons for the working class under President Juan José Torres government (1970-1971) and this posture so enthralled a colleague from Venezuela that she was given the name “Maestra de profesión y revolución”.
The following are some of the posts she held as a trade union leader:

Since 1979 she has been named one of the “Maestros meritorios” (Meritorious’ Teachers) in Bolivia.[37]

Representative at the ”Asamblea del Pueblo” (Peoples’ Assembly) 1971

Recognized by the workers of the trade unions as a combatant trade unionist, she was appointed as COD’S delegate to the “Asamblea del pueblo” in 1971. She was one of the five women among the two hundred and eleven delegates.[38] [39] [40]

Exile

After Banzer’s military coup in Bolivia (1971), Elsa was forced into exile, first in Chile [41] and then later in Switzerland following Pinochet’s military coup against President Salvador Allende in Chile (1973).[42] During the long period that she was forced to live outside Bolivia, she never flagged in her outspoken condemnation of the abuses in Bolivia and other Latin American countries.

In 1975 she was invited to Turin, Italy[43] to participate in a conference [44] during the solidarity week together with members of the Bolivian resistance. During her visits to Stockholm, Sweden (1973-1993) she regularly met with refugees from Bolivia living in many different towns and cities. She founded branch organizations of UMBO in Gothenburg and Uppsala.[45] During a national women’s strike in Switzerland in 1991, she was invited to talk at that event. During that day a street in Fribourg was named after her, “Elsa Cladera de Bravo Strasse”.[46] [47] The experiences of struggle that brought about involuntary exile are clearly important testimonies to her life (1973-2005).,[48] [49] [50]

See also

Bolivia, Oruro

References

Sources

Newspapers

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Libris. 5 April 2016. 9789995483029. Cladera. Nadezhda Bravo. 2013.
  2. Web site: Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine . Elsa Cladera de Bravo. Maestra de profesión y revolución. . 5 March 2020.
  3. Web site: Publican biografía de una dirigente del magisterio. 14 August 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050445/http://www.laprensa.com.bo/diario/entretendencias/cultura/20130321/publican-biografia-de-una-dirigente-del-magisterio_45005_72342.html. 4 March 2016. dead.
  4. Web site: La escuela latinoamericana Elsa Cladera de Bravo en Friburgo. 20 April 2014.
  5. Web site: Escuelita Latinoamericana de Friburgo. . 8 December 2021.
  6. Web site: Biografie einer Frauenrechtlerin, die von Bolivien über Chile nach Freiburg flüchtete. 2015-12-13. 2019-05-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20190531093646/https://www.freiburger-nachrichten.ch/nachrichten-grossfreiburg/biografie-einer-frauenrechtlerin-die-von-bolivien-ueber-chile-nach. dead.
  7. Oporto Ordoñez, Luis, "Elsa Cladera, maestra de profesión y revolución", Página Siete, La Paz, 17 March 2013.
  8. Web site: Fuentes . 15 January 2017.
  9. Web site: Lehrerin, Gewerkschaflerin 1922. 22 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140910195435/http://www.siebel-gottfried.emfprod.ch/familiebravo/elsabravo/index.html. 10 September 2014. dead.
  10. Web site: Elsa cladera de Bravo . Maestra de profesión y revolución. 17 August 2021.
  11. Web site: Alma Mater de la ilustración de Oruro. 14 October 2012.
  12. Web site: Renuevan compromiso con Facultad de Derecho en sus 121 años. 20 April 2014.
  13. Bravo Cladera, N. (2013) Elsa Cladera de Bravo. Maestra de profesión y revolución. La Paz Correveidile, pp. 27-29.
  14. Web site: Internationella Biblioteket. Med törst för rättvisa. 7 August 2020. 14 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200714185535/http://mlc.interbib.se/default.aspx?id=266186. dead.
  15. Jonh, S. Sándor (2009) Bolivia's Radical Tradition: Permanent Revolution in the Andes. The University of Arizona Press, p. 92.
  16. Steven Sándor John, De Prinkipo a Pulacayo: consideraciones sobre la historia del trotskismo boliviano, Archivos, Año IX, no 17, pp. 99-120, septiembre de 2020-febrero 2021
  17. John, S. Sándor (2009), p. 77
  18. Dunkerley, James (1987) Rebelión en las venas. La Paz, Plural, p. 41
  19. Barrón Feraudi, Jorge (1963) Esbozo Monográfico de la Facultad de, Economía. 1938- Año de las Bodas de Plata - 1963. Universidad Técnica de Oruro, p.92.
  20. Dunkerley, James (1987), p.38;
  21. John, S. Sándor (2009), p.166
  22. Klein, Herbert S.(1971) "Prelude to the revolution". In James Malloy and Pichard Thom (eds.) Beyond the Revolution. Bolivia since 1952, Pittsburg University of Pittsburgh Press, pp. 25-52.
  23. Book: Capitalismo, modernización y resistencia popular 1825-1952. 9789995481698. 15 October 2017. Ostria. Gustavo Rodríguez. 6 August 2014. Vicepresidencia del Estado de Bolivia-Centro de Investigaciones Sociales .
  24. Web site: Kalender 2007 Wegbereiterinnen V. 21 April 2014.
  25. Bravo Cladera (2013), p. 88.
  26. John, S. Sándor (2009), p. 311
  27. "Bases y fines para la organización femenina", La Paz, July 1958, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  28. "Estatutos de Unión de Mujeres de Bolivia", La Paz, circa 1952, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  29. Web site: Elsa Cladera de Bravo y la lucha sindical. 8 March 2014 . 8 March 2014.
  30. Web site: Lehrerin, Gewerkschaflerin 1922. 22 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140910195435/http://www.siebel-gottfried.emfprod.ch/familiebravo/elsabravo/index.html. 10 September 2014. dead.
  31. "Taped conversation with Elsa cladera de Bravo, Name of the tape: ECBTCG4, Fribourg, 1980, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  32. "Maestros eligieron nuevos dirigentes" Tribuna Universitaria, La Paz, 18 November 1964.
  33. Cladera de Bravo, Elsa, "Palabras de Elsa de Bravo, Secretaria de Relaciones de la Central Obrera Departamental ante el Tercer Congreso", La Paz, July 27, 1968, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  34. Central Única de Trabajadores de Chile (CUT): "Convenio CUT- Universidad de Chile, Escuela Sindical. Certificado de Asistencia", Santiago de chile, 31 May 1969 Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  35. " Federación Nacional de Maestros Urbanos de Bolivia. VIIIo Congreso Nacional Ordinario de Maestros Urbanos de Bolivia. Informe de la primera comisión revisora del informe del Comité Central de la Federación Nacional de Maestros urbanos de Bolivia", El Diario, La Paz, 18 May 1971;
  36. "La mujer estuvo presente en la Asamblea del Pueblo", Rebelión, La Paz, June–July 1971.
  37. "Galería de Maestros meritorios", ABC, La Paz, 10 October 1979.
  38. Bravo Cladera, N.(2013), p. 121;
  39. "Federación Nacional de Maestros Urbanos de Bolivia. VIIIo Congreso Nacional Ordinario de Maestros Urbanos de Bolivia. Informe de la primera comisión revisora del informe del Comité Central de la Federación Nacional de Maestros urbanos de Bolivia", El Diario, La Paz, 18 May 1971;
  40. "La mujer estuvo presente en la Asamblea del Pueblo", Rebelión, La Paz, June–July 1971.
  41. "Letter from Elsa cladera de Bravo", Santiago de Chile, 10 January 1972, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  42. "Letter from Elsa Cladera de Bravo", Altstätten, 5 November 1973 Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  43. "Letter from Elsa Cladera de Bravo", Turin, 9 October 1975, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB)
  44. Cladera de Bravo, Elsa, "Situación de Bolivia", Turin, October 1975, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB)
  45. "Letter from Elsa Cladera de Bravo", Fribourg, May 1978, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  46. Bravo Cladera, N. (2013), pp. 180, 181;
  47. Cladera de Bravo, Elsa "Discurso de Elsa Cladera de Bravo en la Huelga Femenina en Suiza", Fribourg, 14 June 1991, Archive Elsa Cladera de Bravo (AECB).
  48. Favarger, Alain, "L'exile suisse d'une sindicaliste bolivienne", La Liberté, Fribourg, 4–5 December 1982.
  49. Koller, Marco,"Biografie einer Frauenrechtlerin, die von Bolivien über Chile nach Freiburg flüchtete", Freiburger Nachrichten, Fribourg, 2 November 2015.
  50. Web site: Presentación del libro Elsa Cladera de Bravo. Maestra de profesión y revolución, en Suiza. 14 August 2016.
  51. Web site: Publican biografía de una dirigente del magisterio. 14 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050445/http://www.laprensa.com.bo/diario/entretendencias/cultura/20130321/publican-biografia-de-una-dirigente-del-magisterio_45005_72342.html. 4 March 2016. dead.
  52. Web site: Elsa Cladera de Bravo. Maestra de profesión y revolución. 15 January 2017.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Elsa Cladera de Bravo".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.