Let Me Speak! Testimony of Domitila, a Woman of the Bolivian Mines

331 Pages·1978·1.604 MB·English

by  Domitila B. De Chungara, Victoria Ortiz, Moema Viezzer

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Wife of a m iner and mother o f seven c hildren, D omitila was the
only w orking-class woman w ho attended the T ribune f or the
International Y ear o f W omen, organized i n Mexico in 1975. That
is where t he idea o f t his t estimony arose, w hich contains
elements for an analysis profoundly i nnovative h istorical b ecause
it expresses an interpretation of the f acts f rom a popular v ision.
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Moema V iezer
If y ou allow m e t o s peak...
Testimony of Domitila, a w oman f rom the m ines of
Bolivia
ePub r1.1
Colophonius 28.08.16
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Original title: if i allow u s to speak… Testimony o f D omitila, a
woman from t he mines o f Bolivia
Moema Viezzer, 1 977
Cover design: A nhelo Fernández
Editor d igital: Colophonius
ePub b ase r 1.2
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THE READER
The idea o f the present t estimony arose from the presence o f
Domitila B arrios de Chungara in the Tribune o f the International
Year of the Woman, organized by t he United N ations a nd h eld
in M exico, i n 1975.
There I met t his woman from the Bolivian A ndes, wife o f a
mining worker, m other of s even children, who came to the
Tribune o n behalf of t he "20th Century H ousewives C ommittee
", a n o rganization t hat brings together the wives of m ining
workers. that t in-producing center.
His y ears o f struggle a nd t he recognition of t he authenticity
of his c ommitment e arned h im a n o fficial i nvitation from t he
United Nations t o be present a t that e vent.
The o nly w orking-class w oman who actively p articipated i n
the Tribune on behalf of Bolivia, her interventions produced a
profound impact a mong those p resent. T his was due, in large
part, t o the fact that " Domitila l ived what o thers s poke", a ccording
to the comment of a Swedish j ournalist.
This story, which Domitila considers the "culmination" o f h er
work a t La Tribuna, i s t he c ry of a p eople w ho suffer because
they are exploited. In addition, it r eveals how w omen's liberation
is fundamentally linked to the liberation
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socioeconomic, political a nd cultural o f the people and t hat t heir
participation in the process i s located at t his level.
What I am presenting h ere is not Domitila's monologue with
herself. It is t he result o f n umerous interviews t hat I had w ith h er
in M exico a nd Bolivia, of h er interventions in the Tribune, as w ell
as of e xhibitions, t alks and d ialogues that s he d eveloped w ith
groups o f workers, students and u niversity e mployees, i nhabitants
of popular n eighborhoods, exiles Latin A mericans r esiding i n
Mexico and representatives of the press, radio a nd t elevision.
All t his r ecorded m aterial, a s w ell a s s ome written correspondence,
was ordered a nd l ater r eviewed with D omitila, giving rise t o t he
present t estimony.
Domitila adapts to the specific c ircumstances in which she
finds herself and the public she i s addressing. H is way o f
expressing h imself in personal conversations is quite d ifferent
from the one he uses in s peeches and i nterventions in assemblies
or in d ialogues with s mall groups. T his explains the diversity of
style in t his t ext, w hich m ay surprise s ome readers.
Domitila's language is that o f a w oman from the town, w ith
her own e xpressions, her localisms and h er grammatical
constructions often m arked b y t he Quechua l anguage s he
learned s ince childhood. B y the way, I have k ept this language
that forms a n intrinsic p art of h is testimony and c ontributes t o
literature a nother sample of t he wealth c ontained i n popular
expression.
Written d ocumentation based on e xperiences l ived by
townspeople i s quite s carce. In this s ense, t his story c an f ill a
void a nd c onstitute an instrument for r eflection a nd g uidance,
useful to other women and m en dedicated to the cause o f the
people in Bolivia a nd in other c ountries, particularly in Latin
America.
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This b ook i s, therefore, a working instrument.
Domitila agreed to leave her t estimony i n the p erspective of
"contributing a g rain o f s and, h oping that i t w ill s erve t he n ew
generation." " Because," s he s ays, "it is important to take
experiences f rom our o wn h istory" a s well a s "the e xperience of
other p eoples." A nd for that, "there must b e testimony" t hat s erves
to "reflect on our a ction and c riticize it."
The s chool w here Domitila has b een forged is the l ife o f the
town. In the m onotonous a nd h ard d aily w ork o f a housewife in the
mines, she d iscovered h ow the w orker i s not t he o nly o ne w ho i s
exploited, s ince, due to t he e ffects o f the s ystem, she a nd h er
family are also e xploited. This motivated her to actively p articipate
in t he organized s truggle of the w orking class.
Together w ith h er companions, she e xperiences f irsthand the
defeats and triumphs o f her people. A nd from t hat i nterprets reality.
Everything h e comments i s life and p rojection.
Domitila d oes n ot i ntend to present us w ith a historical a nalysis
of Bolivia, nor o f t he m ining union movement or t he C ommittee o f
Housewives o f the 2 0th Century. It simply n arrates what h e has
lived through, h ow h e has l ived i t a nd w hat he has l earned to
continue i n t he f ight that has to lead t he w orking class a nd t he
popular m ovement t o be masters o f their destiny. H owever, t here
are f ew t estimonies from a m an or w oman from t he m ine, t he
factory, the m arginalized n eighborhood or t he c ountryside, w here
the protagonist not o nly n arrates the s ituation in which he lives, b ut
is a lso a ware of the c auses a nd m echanisms t hat c reate and
maintain s uch a s ituation a nd i s engaged in the s truggle to change
it.
In this s ense, y es, Domitila's t estimony c ontains elements f or a
deeply innovative h istorical analysis, b ecause it e xpresses a n
interpretation o f the f acts b ased on a popular vision.
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That i s why i t is essential, i n order not t o d istort this story, t o a llow a
woman from t he t own t o speak, listen t o h er and t ry t o u nderstand h ow she
lives, f eels a nd i nterprets events.
Nothing t hat i s consigned h ere i s f oreign t o t he r eality o f B olivia. Because
Domitila's personal itinerary i s p art of t he g reat t rajectory o f t he w orking
class a nd the B olivian people. T his w as t he r eason t hat l ed me t o d ivide the
book into t hree parts: the f irst, where Domitila describes "her p eople", t he
living a nd w orking c onditions o f t he m en and w omen in the m ines a nd
their i ntegration into t he o rganized l abor movement. The second, where h e
narrates " his p ersonal life" r elated to t he h istorical e vents o f h is town.
The t hird, w hich p resents t he p anorama o f t he m ines i n "1976", especially
after the s trike sustained by t he miners in the m onths of J une-July.
Here I w ant t o e xpress my admiration and m y gratitude to t he w omen of
the Bolivian m ines w ho, in the person o f D omitila, give us the o pportunity t o
better k now and understand t he t emper of t he B olivian working c lass a nd
the women who, from Bartolina S isa, Juana A zurduy, M aría Barzola, do not
stop f ighting f or the t rue f reedom of t heir people.
I also want t o thank a ll m y friends, colleagues, and colleagues w ho, in
different ways, h ave collaborated to m ake t his testimony a reality.
Let Domitilla s peak.
MV
December 3 0, 1 976.
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The extraordinary diffusion that this book h as had from the moment it
appeared a lso provoked the reaction of s ome g roups t hat tried to d istort
the orientation and content o f the text. Domitila Barrios de Chungara
has w ritten t o the Publishing H ouse a sking t hat a l ast conversation held
in La P az in March 1978 w ith the author o f t he book, M oema V iezzer,
be i ncluded:
This ti so t ghieve b iot.o Ik h m avye t rr ueea d th iot ua itg n ihsdt ta hsa t c u I ra rnedn t a t lhseo e axcpcroersdsiniogn t oI w t haen t
content t o I w w hlaiicknhet t I to ha i ssma i syi n u t h asanetdf u I tlf h u aelnl y wd a to thghrikrasei tn c e wgo t enh m ta rreeitb ta phuluoltyibdo w l niw s Cat hehnhi nat hueBgtan d Davg t hert oaore miru o ag bssi.itoev il deoade.k .
with
as
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RESULTS O F T HE I NTERVIEWS
KEPT BETWEEN DOMITILA AND
MOEMA IN MARCH 1 978
M.:—Domitila, you have expressed t he desire t o make s ome
clarifications regarding c ertain interpretations of your t estimony.
What w ould you l ike to s ay?
D.:—Well, f irst of a ll, what I think i s that t he book is a story, a nd
it s hould b e r ead globally. D o not take a single p aragraph, a nd
put i t a ccording t o your t hinking or your w ay o f being, but the
book is all related a nd one has to read t he work u nderstanding
it f rom the beginning t o the end. I a lso t hink t hat this story can
be a text f or a nalysis a nd c riticism, but it is not about l ooking f or
a theoretical g uideline in itself. It is an a ccount o f my experience.
For e xample, with r espect to the party, e ven though in my
testimony I have referred more to the union, I t hink t hat t he
struggle for t he liberation o f the people should be m anaged b y
a party t hat really b elongs t o the oppressed and exploited
workers. In o ther words, we h ave to have our own p arty and w e
have to d irect i t, r ight? N ow, with m y little v ision t hat I h ave of
the Bolivian reality, not because I d on't w ant to have it, but