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Rubén Callisaya

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Rubén Callisaya
Headshot of Rubén Callisaya
Official portrait, 2014
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from La Paz
In office
19 January 2010 – 18 January 2015
SubstituteLidia Paucara (2010–2014)[α]
Preceded byClaudia Paredes
Succeeded byMaría Eugenia Calcina
ConstituencyParty list
Personal details
Born
Donato Rubén Callisaya Mayta

(1961-05-24) 24 May 1961 (age 63)
Coripata, La Paz, Bolivia
Political partyMovement for Socialism (since 1999)
Alma materHigher University of San Andrés
Occupation
  • Politician
  • trade unionist

Donato Rubén Callisaya Mayta (born 24 May 1961) is a Bolivian politician and trade unionist who served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz from 2010 to 2015.

Callisaya was born in Coripata, a predominantly agricultural settlement dedicated to coca cultivation, and moved to the capital to attend secondary school. He abandoned law studies at the Higher University of San Andrés to pursue a career at the National State Railroad Company [es], where he worked for twelve years between 1985 until the enterprise's privatization [es] in 1996.

Following his dismissal, Callisaya established himself as a share taxi driver in urban La Paz. He joined the department's drivers' federation and assumed positions of union leadership: secretary of conflicts from 1999 to 2002, then general secretary from 2003 to 2006. A member of the Movement for Socialism, Callisaya suffered two electoral defeats before being appointed counselor to the La Paz prefecture in 2008. He won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies the following year and was not nominated for reelection.

Early life and career

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Early life and education

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Rubén Callisaya was born on 24 May 1961 in Coripata,[2] an Aymara settlement in the Nor Yungas Province of eastern La Paz Department. The area is known for its coca cultivation:[3] Callisaya's father, Eulogio, was a cocalero who made a living as a carrier.[4] He made regular trips through the treacherous Yungas trail route – better known as "Death Road" – to make cargo deliveries.[5] Cristina Mayta, Rubén's mother, was an esteemed merchant in their community.[2]

Callisaya attended school in Coripata, where he studied through seventh-grade primary. He moved to La Paz to pursue secondary education, attending the Gualberto Villarroel School – an institute noted for catering to the country's rural migrant youth.[6][β] He paused his studies after receiving his baccalaureate [es] to focus on work and later took them back up at the Higher University of San Andrés, where he studied law and political science for two years.[8]

Career and trade unionism

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Callisaya worked as a railroad worker at the National State Railroad Company [es] for the better part of twelve years between 1985 and 1996.[9] He was dismissed after the enterprise was privatized [es] during the administration of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada[6] – one of hundreds of workers who lost employment as the company was gutted by foreign consortiums.[10]

Forced into early retirement, Callisaya found self-employment as a driver for hire. Using funds from his severance package, he purchased two minibuses, which he operated as share taxis.[5] He joined the 1 May Departmental Federation of Drivers of La Paz shortly thereafter and gained a foothold in union politics as the organization's secretary of conflicts from 1999 to 2002.[11] He went on to hold a succession of union posts through the early 2000s, capped by his election as general secretary of the Christ of May Mixed Transport Union in 2003 to 2006.[4]

Chamber of Deputies

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Election

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Callisaya became acquainted with left-wing political movements during his service in the rail industry. Already before his time as a union leader, he had received overtures to join the Revolutionary Left Movement, but talks never panned out.[5] In 1999, he became affiliated with the Movement for Socialism (MAS), which established a long-term accord with the nation's drivers' unions.[12][γ] His dual nominations for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in the 2002 election – on the MAS's electoral list and as a substitute in single-member circumscription 7 alongside future lawmaker Cristina Rojas – both failed, as did his candidacy for the La Paz Municipal Council in 2004, where the MAS won three councillors while Callisaya was fourth on the list.[15]

Financial constraints prevented Callisaya from running for office in the 2005 election.[5] He gained his first political position in 2008 when – following the recall of Prefect José Luis Paredes [es] and the appointment of Pablo Ramos [es] – he was made departmental counselor to the prefecture, representing Murillo Province.[16][δ] His term kept him in good standing with the department's drivers' unions, who, in 2009, selected him as their representative in parliament.[18] He was the lowest-ranked candidate on the MAS's parliamentary list in the La Paz Department to win a seat.[19]

Tenure

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Callisaya served the length of his term on the Industry, Commerce, Transport, and Tourism Committee and was leader of the MAS delegation in La Paz Department from 2012 to 2013.[2] He took part in the elaboration and passage of the General Law on Transport, a landmark piece of legislation for members of the transportation sector.[20]

At the same time, Callisaya's term was rocked by scandal over his ties to the "Narco-Lebanese" Georges Chafic, a Lebanon-born dual national caught smuggling some 390 kilograms (860 lb) of cocaine. Per his own account, Callisaya met Chafic – a member of the MAS – through colleague deputy Samuel Pamuri; the pair granted Chafic permits to use official vehicles and even suggested him for a diplomatic role, given his Lebanese language fluency.[21] The controversy led some in the MAS to seek the two lawmakers' suspension or even expulsion from office.[22]

Callisaya was not nominated for reelection at the end of his term. In general, the seats afforded to the drivers' unions belonged to the sector at-large, as opposed to any single individual. Rarely were incumbents re-nominated: preference among the organizations was to rotate out their representatives.[23] Union executive Franklin Durán – whom Callisaya had lobbied be nominated for Senate – instead succeeded him as the drivers' member for La Paz.[24]

Commission assignments

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  • Plural Economy, Production, and Industry Commission
    • Industry, Commerce, Transport, and Tourism Committee (2010–2015)[25]

Electoral history

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Electoral history of Rubén Callisaya
Year Office Party Votes Result Ref.
Total % P.
2002 Deputy Movement for Socialism Disqualified Lost [ε]
Movement for Socialism 6,910 12.20% 4th Lost [28]
2004 Councillor Movement for Socialism 74,563 19.88% 2nd Lost [29][ζ]
2009 Deputy Movement for Socialism 1,099,259 80.28% 1st Won [30][ζ]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Resigned from office.[1]
  2. ^ Like many lawmakers,[7] Callisaya took his first political steps in student leadership, where he held some positions. His first instincts, however, were to pursue a career in football: he played semi-professional Fourth and Third Division for The Strongest but did not advance further.[5]
  3. ^ The MAS offered union leaders privileged positions on its electoral lists. The unions, in turn, mobilized their sector in support of the party and its platform.[13] Drivers like Callisaya took part in the mass protests that toppled the government of Sánchez de Lozada in October 2003, for example.[14]
  4. ^ Between 1995 and 2010, municipal councils in each province selected their representatives in the departmental council of the prefecture. This form of indirect election – along with the councils themselves – was discontinued in 2010 and replaced by departmental legislative assemblies elected by popular vote.[17]
  5. ^ Callisaya ranked ninth on the MAS's registered slate of party-list candidates.[26] He no longer appeared on the National Electoral Court's final published list of qualified candidates.[27]
  6. ^ a b Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

Footnotes

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Works cited

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Online and list sources

Digital and print publications

Books and encyclopedias

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Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia
Preceded by Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from La Paz

2010–2015
Succeeded by