Mirtha Arce

Mirtha Arce
Headshot of Mirtha Arce
Official portrait, 2018
Senator for Tarija
In office
18 January 2015 – 3 November 2020
SubstituteFernando Campero
Preceded byMarcelo Antezana
Succeeded byGladys Alarcón
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from Tarija
In office
25 January 2010 – 14 July 2014
DeputyAdrián Oliva [es]
Preceded byRodolfo Vargas
Succeeded byLorena Gareca
ConstituencyParty list
Personal details
Born
Mirtha Natividad Arce Camacho

(1963-12-25) 25 December 1963 (age 60)
Tarija, Bolivia
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Educator
  • lawyer
  • politician
SignatureCursive signature in ink

Mirtha Natividad Arce Camacho (born 25 December 1963) is a Bolivian academic, lawyer, and politician who served as senator for Tarija from 2015 to 2020.

Arce got her political start in student leadership before developing her career in academia and women's rights activism. She held multiple executive positions in women's rights–related organizations in Tarija, including presiding over the Association of Women Lawyers and the Association of Women University Professionals. Between 2002 and 2008, she held law-related public service roles at local and departmental levels, including serving as legal director of the Departmental Road Service of Tarija.

In 2009, Arce was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, accompanying Adrián Oliva [es] as his substitute from 2010 to 2014 when she resigned to launch a successful bid for a seat in the Senate. Though elected as part of the Democratic Unity coalition, Arce became estranged from the bloc partway through her term and operated as an independent from then on. In 2021, she contested the Tarija governorship, becoming the first woman nominee in the department's electoral history. However, she came in a distant fourth place at the ballot box.