Occupation of Bolivia’s Superintendency of Banks to protest against predatory microfinance debts
July 2, 2001
Photograph of Julieta Paredes (cofounder of Mujeres Creando) taken by Agência Pública in 2020 for a public interview.
Julieta Paredes is an Indigenous (Aymara) Bolivian poet, singer-songwriter, writer, graffiti artist, anarchist and decolonial feminist activist. In 2003 she began Mujeres creando comunidad (women creating community) out of the activism of community feminism.
From an interview, she explains the background of the movement which led to this occupation:
"We [Mujeres Creando] had openly denounced the abuse of micro-credit in Bolivia, as there were very high interest rates and a lot of irregularities in the charges. People’s debts had doubled and tripled. When the group arrived in La Paz they were already asking for the forgiveness of their debts. We soon realized that these people had been indebted to micro-credit institutions for eight, nine, or ten years. They had been trying to pay off their debts all this time, but they reached a point when they couldn’t pay any more. They were bankrupt, they didn’t have a penny left. We organized a range of activities with them, from actions to reflecting on issues such as non-violent direct action. We took films along to the place where they were staying in the university. We did courses explaining what international institutions were financing the Bolivian banks and financial entities. In a lot of cases they were misusing aid-provided micro-credit."
On July 2, 2001 associations of those exploited by the microlending industry took Bolivia’s Superintendency of Banks hostage with dynamite and demanded forgiveness or reduction of debt. Mujeres Creando was involved in the negotiations and worked to prevent a massacre. The struggle against exploitative microlending continues.
From an interview, she explains the background of the movement which led to this occupation:
"We [Mujeres Creando] had openly denounced the abuse of micro-credit in Bolivia, as there were very high interest rates and a lot of irregularities in the charges. People’s debts had doubled and tripled. When the group arrived in La Paz they were already asking for the forgiveness of their debts. We soon realized that these people had been indebted to micro-credit institutions for eight, nine, or ten years. They had been trying to pay off their debts all this time, but they reached a point when they couldn’t pay any more. They were bankrupt, they didn’t have a penny left. We organized a range of activities with them, from actions to reflecting on issues such as non-violent direct action. We took films along to the place where they were staying in the university. We did courses explaining what international institutions were financing the Bolivian banks and financial entities. In a lot of cases they were misusing aid-provided micro-credit."
On July 2, 2001 associations of those exploited by the microlending industry took Bolivia’s Superintendency of Banks hostage with dynamite and demanded forgiveness or reduction of debt. Mujeres Creando was involved in the negotiations and worked to prevent a massacre. The struggle against exploitative microlending continues.