Famous Faces Of Bolivia: Who Are They?

Bolivia has produced several famous figures, from presidents to artists, actors, and athletes. Some of the most notable Bolivians include Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president, and Simon Bolivar, the country's namesake and founder, who played a crucial role in Bolivia's political, economic, and cultural life. In sports, Marco Antonio Etcheverry is a renowned footballer, while Bernando Guarachi is a famous mountain climber. In the arts, María Luisa Pacheco and Alfredo Da Silva are celebrated painters, and Marina Núñez del Prado is a respected sculptor. Bolivia has also produced internationally recognised actors such as Carla Ortiz and Reynaldo Pacheco.

Presidents of Bolivia

Bolivia's first president was Simón Bolívar, who was in office from 12 August 1825 until 29 December 1825. He is considered the country's founder and played a crucial role in establishing its political, economic, and cultural life. Bolívar is also known as the "father of Bolivia" since the country was named after him.

Since the establishment of the office in 1825, Bolivia has had 65 men and 2 women serve as president. The presidency of Pedro Blanco Soto, who was assassinated just six days after taking office in 1828, was the shortest in Bolivian history. Evo Morales, who served from 2006 to 2019, was the longest-serving president, with a tenure of over thirteen years. Morales is also the only president to have served more than two consecutive terms.

Luis Arce, the incumbent president, is the 67th president of Bolivia. He assumed office on 8 November 2020.

• Evo Morales: He was the leader of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and served as president from 2006 to 2019. Morales focused on empowering the country's indigenous and poor communities through land reforms and redistribution of wealth. In 2009, he became the first president of the Plurinational State of Bolivia after a constitutional change.
• Simón Bolívar: As mentioned earlier, Bolívar was the country's first president and played a pivotal role in Bolivia's independence and early nation-building.
• Antonio José de Sucre: He was the second president of Bolivia and was in office when the country's first Constitution was promulgated on 19 November 1826.
• Germán Busch, Hernán Siles Zuazo, and Antonio José de Sucre: These presidents had brief, non-consecutive terms before assuming longer terms later.
• Pedro Blanco Soto: His presidency was the shortest in Bolivian history, and he was assassinated just days after taking office.
• Luis Arce: The current president, who assumed office in 2020, is focused on economic development and social welfare.

Criminals

Bolivia has a homicide rate of 63 murders per 1,000,000 people. In 2016, there were 686 reported homicides, and in 2012, the murder rate was 121 per 1,000,000 people, with a total of 1,270 murders.

The country has a significant issue with human trafficking, with women and children being the most vulnerable. Almost three-quarters of rescued victims fall into this category. While there are laws against human trafficking, the government’s implementation is poor, and local authorities struggle to enforce the laws due to a lack of funding, awareness, or interest. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Venezuelan migration crisis have exacerbated the problem, as more refugees are vulnerable to human trafficking, especially poor indigenous people in rural areas.

Bolivia is a key transit point for drugs and foreign criminal organizations, particularly Brazilian groups. It is the world’s third-largest producer of coca and serves as an air bridge for Peruvian cocaine. The country's coca-growing regions have implemented a policy of voluntary participation of farmers, allowing them to grow a limited amount of coca per year. However, any cultivation beyond these limits or outside approved regions is subject to elimination.

Bolivia also faces issues with arms trafficking, serving as a gateway for guns from the US to criminal organizations in Brazil and Paraguay. Local criminal groups have access to these weapons, contributing to rising violence levels.

The country is not immune to cyber-attacks, although they are relatively rare and often politically motivated. The country's cybercrime police unit focuses primarily on internet-related crimes such as human trafficking rather than computer-based crimes.

Financial crimes in Bolivia are generally opportunistic rather than being driven by established criminal groups. However, procurement fraud is common at various levels of the state, and corruption is widespread.

One notable Bolivian criminal is Roberto Suárez Gómez.

Artists

Roberto Mamani Mamani is perhaps Bolivia's most famous artist. His colourful works are collected and exhibited worldwide, and he draws inspiration from the ancient Tiwanaku people. Mamani Mamani's paintings are known for their vibrant colours and the intense emotions they evoke.

Marina Núñez del Prado, a sculptor born in La Paz between 1908 and 1912, is another of Bolivia's most renowned artists. She worked with abstract forms and fluid lines, even in bulky objects, using stones such as white onyx, granite, and basalt. Her home in La Paz is now a museum dedicated to her sculptures.

Other notable Bolivian painters include Arturo Borda, whose style is one of the first examples of Abstract and symbolic art in Bolivia; Cecilio Guzmán de Rojas, an "indigenist painter" known for his portraits of indigenous Bolivians; and Benjamín Mendoza y Amor Flores.

The sculptor Juan Bustillos, originally from Caranavi, is also one of Bolivia's most famous artists. He petitioned the city of Santa Cruz to convert an abandoned jail into an art gallery and founded the Manzana Uno art gallery, now one of the city's most visited attractions.

Jorge Padilla, a painter and sculptor from Santa Cruz, is known for his intense and passionate style, which has earned him several awards.

Other notable Bolivian artists include the muralist and sculptor Lorgio Vaca, the painter Tito Kuramotto, the painter and muralist Gil Imaná, the painter Susana Castillo López, and the architect and painter Roberto Valcárcel.

Actors

Reynaldo Pacheco

Reynaldo Pacheco is a Bolivian actor in Hollywood. He has worked with several award-winning actors, including Christopher Plummer, Ernest Borgnine, and Gary Sinise. He has also collaborated with TV stars such as Eva Longoria, Guillermo Diaz, and Judy Reyes.

Raquel Welch

Raquel Welch was born in Chicago in 1940 to a Bolivian aeronautical engineer father. She became a sex symbol in 1966 after starring in a remake of "One Million Years B.C." and has since starred in dozens of movies and TV shows. Welch won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy for The Three Musketeers in 1974.

Jorge Ortiz

Jorge Ortiz is one of the longest-running Bolivian actors, having participated in more than 10 national movies and two foreign films.

Arturo Lora

Arturo Lora, a movie actor born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1950, started as a theatre stenographer’s assistant and later became a member of the Casateatro and Tiquiminiqui theatre groups in his city. He has acted in four movies, the last of which was directed by his son, who is also a director.

David Mondacca

David Mondacca, a prolific Bolivian actor, has acted in over twenty films and more than one hundred plays. He founded an acting group called Quartocreciente and has participated in films by other Latin American directors and in film festivals both nationally and internationally.

David Santalla

David Santalla, a movie and theatre actor born in La Paz in 1936, is known as a comedian and theatre actor. However, he has also acted in at least seven national films.

Pato Hoffmann

Pato Hoffmann is a Bolivian actor and theatre director who has performed in films such as "Geronimo: An American Legend," "Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee," "Cheyenne Warrior," and "The Last Winter." He was named the 1999 Indian Celebrity of the Year.

Carla Ortiz

Carla Ortiz is a television and movie actress born in Cochabamba in 1976. She moved to Mexico City to work in telenovelas and later to California, USA, to debut on the big screen in 2012 with a role in the movie “The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez.” She has also starred in Bolivian movies, such as “Los Andes No Creen en Dios” and the German-Bolivian movie “Escríbeme Postales a Copacabana.”

Eduardo Rózsa-Flores

Eduardo Rózsa-Flores was a Bolivian-Hungarian-Croatian mercenary, journalist, actor, and secret agent. Born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, he starred in the feature film "Chico," which was based on his life.

Ximena Herrera

Ximena Herrera is a Bolivian-born Mexican actress. She has participated in telenovelas such as "La Madrastra" and "Corazones al Límite."

Verona Pooth

Verona Pooth, born in La Paz, Bolivia, is a German television personality, beauty pageant winner, and occasional actress. She was Miss Germany and Miss Intercontinental in 1993 and represented Germany at the Miss Universe contest.

Athletes

Maria Fernanda Álvarez

Maria Fernanda Álvarez, born in 1989 in Santa Cruz, is a professional tennis player. She achieved the highest International Tennis Federation ranking among Bolivians, reaching number 15 in the Juniors category in 2007. She has won several national and international singles and doubles tournaments. In 2013, she made history by winning a WTA match in doubles tennis, and in April 2014, she ranked well in the Fed Cup in Puerto Rico.

Geovana Irusta

Geovana Irusta, a racewalker born in Chuquisaca, is considered Bolivia's best athlete in the 20-kilometer racewalk. She has earned numerous medals in this specialty, including a second-place finish at the Latin American level and a worldwide ranking of 16th. Irusta represented Bolivia in the Olympics four times, from 1996 in Atlanta to 2008 in Beijing.

Bernardo Guarachi

Bernardo Guarachi, born in Patacamaya (La Paz), is a mountain climber and guide. In his over 30 years of climbing, he has summited some of the world's highest peaks, including the tallest mountains in the Andes and the fifth-highest in the Himalayas (Makalu). He is the first Bolivian and the first indigenous Latin American to climb Mount Everest, which he accomplished in 1998.

Paulo Víctor Aguilera

Paulo Víctor Aguilera, born in Santa Cruz in 1991, is a BMX racer. He has dominated the sport in Latin America and the world, becoming the Latin American BMX champion 14 times and the world champion five times. He started racing at the age of three and has also won innumerable national championships.

Marco Antonio Etcheverry

Marco Antonio Etcheverry, born in Santa Cruz in 1970, is a well-known soccer player and trainer. Nicknamed "El Diablo" due to his ability to break through defences, he played for various national and South American teams before joining DC United in the US, where he played for eight years until his retirement in 2006. He represented Bolivia in the 1994 US World Cup and is considered one of the country's most famous athletes.

Erwin Sánchez

Erwin Sánchez, born in Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1969, is another accomplished soccer player and trainer. Like Etcheverry, he trained at the Tahuichi Academy and played for national teams before moving abroad, in his case to Portugal, where he won various national championships. He was also a member of Bolivia's 1994 World Cup team. His powerful kicking style earned him the nickname "Platini," after the French player Michel Platini.

Other Notable Athletes

Bolivia has produced many other notable athletes, including:

• Hugo Dellien Velasco, a professional tennis player who has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 64.
• Juan Carlos Arce Justiniano, a dynamic and skilled Bolivian professional footballer who plays for Blooming in the Bolivian league and is a key player for the national team.
• Simon Breitfuss Kammerlander, an alpine ski racer representing Bolivia since 2017, specialising in slalom and giant slalom events.
• Saul Farah, a Bolivian professional boxer who held the Bolivian national Heavyweight boxing champion title and successfully defended it 15 times.
• Katherine Moreno, a retired Bolivian swimmer who represented her country in four Summer Olympics and won numerous national championships.
• Timo Juhani Gronlund, a cross-country skier who has represented Bolivia internationally since 2017 and qualified for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
• Chavo Salvatierra, a motorcycle racer who competes in the 450cc category and has won several rally races in Bolivia and internationally.
• Eduardo "Happy" Peredo, a rally racecar driver who has won numerous local and national championships and is a two-time South American Champion.

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