page_title: Aymara people
section_title: Politics
hierarchical_section_title: Aymara people / Politics
context_page_description: The Aymara or Aimara people are an indigenous nation in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2.3 million live in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. Their ancestors lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca in the late 15th or early 16th century, and later of the Spanish in the 16th century. With the Spanish American Wars of Independence, the Aymaras became subjects of the new nations of Bolivia and Peru. After the War of the Pacific, Chile annexed territory with Aymara population.
context_section_description: The Aymaras and other indigenous groups have formed numerous movements for greater independence or political power. These include the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army, led by Felipe Quispe, and the Movement Towards Socialism, a political party organized by the Cocalero Movement and Evo Morales. These and other Aymara organizations have led political activism in Bolivia, including the 2003 Bolivian Gas War and the 2005 Bolivia protests.
  Quispe has said that one of his group's goals is to establish an independent indigenous state. They have proposed the name Qullasuyu, after the eastern (and largely Aymara) region of the Inca empire, which covered the southeastern corner of present-day Peru and western Bolivia.
  Evo Morales is an Aymara coca grower from the Chaparé region. His Movement Toward Socialism party has forged alliances with both rural indigenous groups and urban working classes to form a broad leftist coalition in Bolivia. Morales has run for president in several elections since the late 20th century, gaining increasing support. In 2005 he won a surprise victory, winning the largest majority vote since Bolivia returned to democracy. He is the first indigenous president of Bolivia. He is credited with the ousting of Bolivia's previous two presidents.
  Aymaras themselves make significant distinctions between Bolivian and Chilean Aymaras with the aim of establishing by nationality whom to have say on local issues and who not.
caption: Literacy class in El Alto
exif: {}