Argentine folk legend Mercedes Sosa dead at 74 Oct 5, 2009
Born into a humble home on July 9, 1935, in the northern Argentine province of Tucuman, Sosa -- who was half indigenous Aymara -- was strongly influenced by popular culture and traditional folk music. With help from her husband, musician Manuel Oscar Matus, she recorded her first album in the early 1960s, and became known in Argentina after singing at a 1965 music festival in the city of Cordoba. (Yahoo! Asia News)
Peru, Bolivia spar over Devils Dance Aug 22, 2009
Morales vs. GarciaMorales, a left-leaning, Aymara Indian ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and an adamant opponent of free trade, has bristled at Garcia's efforts to spread his free-trade fervor to the Andean Community trade group. Relations further soured when Garcia's government granted asylum to three ex-Bolivian ministers whom Morales is looking to prosecute for their alleged roles in a bloody massacre of protesters in 2003. (MSNBC -- International)
Rivalry Between Peru And Bolivia Hits Dance Floor Aug 22, 2009
Morales, a left-leaning, Aymara Indian ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and an adamant opponent of free trade, has bristled at Garcia's efforts to spread his free-trade fervor to the Andean Community trade group. Relations further soured when Garcia's government granted asylum to three ex-Bolivian ministers whom Morales is looking to prosecute for their alleged roles in a bloody massacre of protesters in 2003. (CBS News -- World)
Iceland, Ecuador early favorites for Miss Universe Aug 21, 2009
The term Diablada also refers to a typical dance of Aymara indigenous people, who live in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. With a worldwide audience and a particularly rapt following in Latin America, the Miss Universe contest airs on NBC television on Sunday. (Yahoo! Asia News)
Bolivian president's surprising critics Jul 27, 2009
They include: Rene Joaquino, the Quechua mayor of the city of Potosi; Alejo Velez, a Quechua leader in the city of Cochabamba; Roman Loayza, a MAS co-founder, and former Vice President Victor Hugo Cardenas, an Aymara ... Velez says Morales favors Aymaras over other indigenous groups, and argues the new Constitution is dividing the country's disparate groups ... Cardenas, who was elected vice president in 1993, is the founder of the Revolutionary Liberation Movement Tupac Katari, named for an... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Bolivian inequality May 25, 2009
Despite having a president, Evo Morales, who is an Aymara Indian, the indigenous groups of Bolivia continue to be among the nation's poorest, working as peasant farmers or cheap labour. And according to Rafael Mora, negative stereotypes abound. (BBC News -- Americas)
Bolivia's Morales Asks UN to Recognize Legal Use of Cocaine Raw Ingredient Mar 13, 2009
The president, an Aymara Indian and former coca farmer, said in the letter that the leaf is harmless and non-addictive, containing only trace amounts of the alkaloid cocaine. Morales chewed the leaves at a UN conference on drug policy in Vienna, Austria, yesterday as he asked the UN on Narcotic Drugs to reverse its 48-year-old decision to qualify the coca leaf as a narcotic, according to official state news agency ABI. The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs said chewing of the coca leaf... (Bloomberg -- Latin America)
Rafts From the Past: Floating Wicker Baskets Mar 8, 2009
In this file photo, an indigenous Aymara man works on a reed boat on the edge of the lake Titicaca in Huatajata, Bolivia ... It extends from a rekindling of the traditional Indian languages of Aymara and Quechua to reclaiming ancient customs, particularly as the nation's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, ushers in a new era of indigenous pride. (ABC News)
