Marfa Inofuentes

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Inofuentes and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Marfa Inofuentes
Born	Marfa Inofuentes Pérez 1969 (1969) La Paz, Bolivia
Died	2015 (aged 45–46)
Other names	Marfa Inofuentes
Occupation	civil rights activist
Years active	1990–2011
Known for	Lobbying for inclusion of Afro-Bolivians as an ethnic minority protected under the Bolivian constitution

Marfa Inofuentes Pérez (1969–2015) was an Afro-Bolivian activist involved in the Constitutional reform movement to recognize black Bolivians as an ethnic minority in the country. After achieving the goal for Afro-Bolivians to be protected under the law, she served as the head the Ministry of Gender and was appointed deputy mayor of the Peripheral Macrodistrict of the Municipality of La Paz.

Early life

Marfa Inofuentes Pérez was born in 1969 in La Paz, Bolivia, one of three children of Benjamín Inofuentes. Her father was born in Tocaña, a village in the Bolivian Yungas Region, where the majority of the country's of Afro-Bolivians originated. After completion of her secondary studies, Inofuentes enrolled in the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, studying sociology and law.

Career

In 1990 Inofuentes joined the Afro-Bolivian Saya Cultural Movement (Spanish: Movimiento Cultural Saya Afroboliviana (MCSA)), a group organized to preserve the cultural traditions of black Bolivians, particularly the artform of saya, by increasing their visibility and acceptance in the wider society. She participated in a public performance of saya in Tocaña in 1990, one of the first times that the public was allowed to witness the ceremonies.

In 2001, after the World Conference against Racism, Inofuentes and Jorge Medina, co-founded the Afro-Bolivian Center for Community Development (Spanish: Centro Afroboliviano para el Desarrollo Integral y Comunitario (CADIC)) to advocate for government recognition of Bolivia's black population. According to a 1997 poll by the Inter-American Development Bank, which included Mónica Rey Gutiérrez, another Afro-Bolivian activist, the population numbered around 20,000 people, but the previous census in 2001 had no category except "other" to survey the actual size of the ethnic group. She believed that lack of state recognition as a minority, and inability to determine the size of the population, furthered marginalization of Afro-Bolivians, as there were no protections in law for discrimination or racial violence.

Traveling widely, Inofuentes represented Bolivia's black women at meetings of the Organization of Ibero-American States in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and the United States. She was also a member of the feminist organization the Network of Caribbean Latin American and African Diaspora Women (Spanish: Red de Mujeres del Caribe, de América Latina y la Diáspora Africana (RMCALDA)).

In 2006, after the election of President Evo Morales, lawmakers met in Sucre to rewrite the Constitution. Inofuentes and other black activists lobbied all of the political parties, pressing for recognition as an ethnic group. As one of the main activists involved in the Bolivian Constitutional Assembly, Inofuentes argued for the addition of articles to protect the civil rights of Afro-Bolivians, including language that recognized the population and protected their culture with the same provisions afforded to indigenous people and other intercultural minorities. Gaining the concessions desired, in 2009, Afro-Bolivians gained constitutional protection and recognition, after the Bolivian constitutional referendum passed. Her activism led to her being appointed to head the Ministry of Gender. In 2010, she was appointed as Deputy Mayor of the Peripheral Macrodistrict of the Municipality of La Paz, but after one year, she developed health problems and entered into a coma from which she did not recover.

Death and legacy

Inofuentes died on 4 March 2015 at the Obrero Hospital in La Paz and is most remembered for her activism to gain recognition for the cultural traditions and identity of Afro-Bolivians.

References

Bibliography

• Busdiecker, Sara (2016). "Rey Gutiérrez, Mónica (1964– )". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-93579-6.  – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)
• Cajías de la Vega, Fernando; Cronin, Kate Adlena (translator) (2016). "Inofuentes Pérez, Marfa (1969–2015)". In Knight, Franklin W.; Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (eds.). Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-93579-6. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)  – via Oxford University Press's Reference Online (subscription required)
• Cuiza, Paulo (4 March 2015). "Fallece Marfa Inofuentes, activista y líder de la comunidad afroboliviana" [Death of Marfa Inofuentes, activist and leader of the Afro-Bolivian community] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: La Razón. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• Martínez Mita, María (31 October 2008). Impacto del pueblo afroboliviano en el reconocimiento de sus derechos humanos en el proceso Constituyente de Bolivia, 2006–2008 [Impact for the Afro-Bolivian people in the recognition of their human rights in the Constituent process of Bolivia, 2006–2008] (PDF) (master's degree). Quito, Ecuador: Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• Murphy, Annie (27 October 2008). "Afro-Bolivians push for political recognition". San Francisco Chronicle. San Francisco, California. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• Ortega, Erick (5 March 2015). "Murió la dirigente afroboliviana Marfa Inofuentes" [The Afro-Bolivian leader Marfa Inofuentes has died] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: La Razón. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• Schipani, Andres (20 June 2011). "Afro-Bolivian Royalty". Americas Quarterly. New York, New York: Americas Society/Council of the Americas. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• "Defensoría del Pueblo rinde homenaje a Marfa Inofuentes" [Ombudsman's Office pays tribute to Marfa Inofuentes] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: Erbol Digital. 7 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
• "La Devaluación de lo Indígena" [The devaluation of the indigenous] (PDF). Insumisos Latinoamericanos (in Spanish). Network of Latin American Researchers for Democracy and Peace. n.d. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.