Epifanio Pacheco Calvimontes

Epifanio Pacheco helps indigenous communities in Bolivia gain legal recognition for their traditional local government structures so that they can achieve previously unattained control over their natural resources. Moving beyond the acquisition of land titles, Epifanio provides these unified communities with technical training to effectively manage their own assets in a sustainable and economically beneficial way.

Epifanio Pacheco is reconstructing traditional forms of organization in Bolivia's indigenous communities, so that inhabitants can begin to control their own resources and create long-term development strategies. Central to his strategy is the empowerment of the ayllus, as the traditional government structures of indigenous communities are known in Bolivia, as elsewhere in the high Andes. As a member of an indigenous ayllu himself, Epifanio is well positioned to carry out this work.
Epifanio has developed a battery of techniques, including legal mechanisms and technical training to ensure maximum benefit from natural and cultural resources such as minerals and archeological sites. His first step was to unify various indigenous communities into the country's first and only legally recognized indigenous district. Next, he organizes these communities to take control of the cultural and natural resources that historically have belonged to them. He trains community members to manage these resources effectively in order to extract potential economic benefits and improve their living standards, while preserving their rich culture. In this way he adds a new dimension to the work done by other organizations which have helped indigenous groups gain property rights and reconstruct traditional forms of organization or those – including businesses and the State– which have entered indigenous lands to organize their resources and promote short-term projects in education and sanitation.

According to Epifanio, the Bolivian government severely lacks commitment to the rights of indigenous communities. Although there are laws to protect indigenous communities' rights to own natural and cultural resources, these laws are rarely enforced. Indigenous rights are often subjected to economic and political interests. Outside business interests have been allowed to enter traditional areas and take over many of their most valuable resources without compensating native inhabitants. Mining groups are currently circulating petitions to buy and extract from ayllu lands, putting 20 to 50 percent of various ayllus's properties in jeopardy. These traditional communities have survived the conquest of the Incas, the Spaniards, and the Bolivian republic, but as external interest in their land increases, it grows more difficult for them to keep hold of their resources and maintain their culture. Of the original nine ayllus in the Quila Quila region, only four have survived, and they have lost more than 90 percent of their land to outsiders.
Indigenous peoples make up 75 percent of Bolivia's population but are often excluded from the country's political processes as political parties and labor unions replace their traditional ayllu systems of local government. Ayllu inhabitants have become increasingly dependent upon decisions made by outsiders. If their lands are expropriated, these native peoples are at great risk of losing their social structures and identity. When organized as communities, indigenous peoples have rights only to their soils, but when recognized as legal functioning ayllus, they have rights to additional resources, such as cultural artifacts, collective lands, and minerals underground. However, securing their access to resources is not enough to ensure the survival of these communities. As Epifanio points out, ayllus need to establish plans to manage their resources sustainably and efficiently to ensure a basic standard of living over the long term.

Epifanio's first step has been to work within the existing legal framework to consolidate the Quila Quila ayllus's landholdings into an official and legally recognized indigenous district. In 1995, he completed the paperwork necessary to create this indigenous district by uniting 400 families in accordance with Bolivia's recently passed Popular Participation Law. In 1996, he presented the same proposal to the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs, extending the plan to 1,300 families who wanted to be included in his resource management plan. Since 1997, each week Epifanio has accompanied ten to fifteen native leaders to pressure government authorities to recognize this district. Since he began his work on this project, two additional ayllus have received legal status and Epifanio has convinced four additional small communities to join in the proposal. Epifanio is creating the first Indigenous Municipal District of its kind in Bolivia by unifying eight indigenous communities.
These groups will use their collective strength and their newly legalized status to fend off mining companies and other outside enterprises that are trying to exploit their land. With Epifanio's help, ayllu chiefs signed one agreement with the Vice Minister of Culture to protect cultural zones and another with the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs to defend their territories and resources. These legal documents open the possibility for negotiation with outside interests but require that businesses consult ayllu chiefs before entering their territory. Epifanio has already acquired legal protection for Talula thermal waters and Humaca salt mines, and has five agreements with mining companies to protect indigenous resource rights. One indigenous district recently signed an agreement with Fancesa, the government's cement factory, which requires the company to give the indigenous communities a portion of its royalties. His goal for the next five years is to unify all ayllus in the south of Bolivia in order to defend indigenous rights against business and political interests.
Once the legal recognition of the indigenous district and its rights is secured, Epifanio helps the community evaluate its situation and plan for development. Community members attend provincial training workshops and participate in local assemblies to identify potential resource management and development projects, their problems, and solutions. Once communities have created an annual plan, Epifanio helps them find funding. He uses his technical background to train the indigenous groups in profitable resource management, which ensures that the indigenous communities themselves benefit from their natural resources. Epifanio brings in experts to help him in agronomy, engineering, gender issues, and planning.
He has presented a five-year municipal development and evaluation plan for Quila Quila, the first such plan for a native population in Bolivia. The plan documents the region's natural characteristics and social relations, analyzes the problems and potentials of an indigenous district, and proposes projects and strategies for the future. Through this plan, the indigenous communities of Quila Quila are implementing projects to commercialize medicinal thermal waters, promote artisan goods, protect salt and cement resources, implement systems for irrigation and management of watersheds, and build roads and schools. To protect and promote Quila Quila's 77 archaeological sites containing fossils, dinosaur footprints, and Pre-Incan artifacts, community members are petitioning the government to create a protected national park area. They recently signed an agreement with the National Science Academy for paleontology studies and will construct the Natural and Cultural Museum of the Quila Quila Native Ayllus. Community members also signed agreements with Plan International and the National Secretariat on Tourism to receive financial support to create the "Touristic Complex of Talula" over the next three years.
Epifanio coordinates with ayllus in other regions to exchange experiences and best practices. Ayllus in Coroma have asked for his assistance in establishing their own program of resource management. Neighboring communities see the benefits of his resource management plan and are beginning to copy the model. For example, the Presto Municipality has completed its plan for development and participatory diagnostic based on Epifanio's model. In five years, Epifanio expects to have spread these activities nationwide, and eventually throughout the Andean region. To find financing, Epifanio makes proposals in coordination with ayllu chiefs and specialists. The Danish embassy has already expressed an interest in supporting ongoing resource management activities throughout the country. Plan International funds projects in health, alternative energy sources, and irrigation, and Semilla Organization will sponsor a seminar in Santa Cruz to strengthen ayllu development; and the national Social Investment Fund supports projects in sanitation and education.

From the time he was very young, Epifanio watched his father struggle for indigenous rights. He grew up in an ayllu and has a deep understanding of the problems faced by his people. He recognized the sacrifices that his father made so that he could study, and, in exchange for his educational opportunity, he promised his father that he would contribute to his community. He has followed his father's example and continues the struggle for indigenous empowerment, in spite of the hardships it has caused his own family. Epifanio does not receive a regular salary for the time he contributes to community development, yet he is absolutely committed to saving cultural resources and ensuring a prosperous existence for indigenous communities.
When Epifanio served as director of his university's student union, he represented his school in various national congresses and participated in indigenous rights activities. He chose to study chemical engineering so that he could return to his community and facilitate the management of natural resources there. This technical background allows him to develop technically feasible land management strategies. He has conducted several studies on environmental issues and tourism activities and augments his knowledge by participating in continuing education courses on sustainable management. Epifanio also holds a diploma for post-graduate work completed at the Andean University. He has also studied extensively the property laws that enable indigenous groups to protect their lands, but has yet to implement all of them. Finally, Epifanio's experience with government officials enables him to guide the communities through the difficult processes involved in legalizing territory and protecting resources. Epifanio's technical training, government connections, personal experience as an ayllu member, and his tremendous dedication give him a distinct advantage in working with indigenous groups.