Nicolasa Machaca

Nicolasa Machaca Alejandro (born 1952) is a Bolivian union leader and health care worker.

A child of indigenous Quechua farmworkers, Machaca learned to read and became a literacy advocate. She coordinated community aid efforts and worked to empower women through forming mothers' clubs.[1] In 1980, she was involved in the founding of the Bartolina Sisa Confederation, the primary union organization of peasant women in Bolivia.[2] Later that year, she was imprisoned and tortured for her social activism, and she was forced to flee the country.[3] After a stay in Cuba, she returned to Bolivia and studied to become a paramedic.[4]

In 2005, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize as part of PeaceWomen Across the Globe's initiative to nominate a group of 1,000 women for that year's honor.[5]

  1. ^ "Confederación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas Indígenas Originarias de Bolivia "Bartolina Sisa" - CNMCIOB-BS". Agencia Plurinacional de Comunicación. Archived from the original on 2016-08-28.
  2. ^ "Falleció en Bolivia Ana Mar. Un ícono del periodismo y de la defensa de la humanidad". eldia.com.bo. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  3. ^ "Nicolasa Machaca Alejandro (Bolivia) | WikiPeaceWomen – English". wikipeacewomen.org. Retrieved 2020-09-05.
  4. ^ "Nicolasa Machaca Alejandro – Bolivia". World People's Blog. Retrieved 2020-09-06.
  5. ^ Ortiz, Julio (2005-07-04). "Tres bolivianas van por el Nobel de la Paz". El Deber. Archived from the original on 2010-05-01.