Casimira Rodríguez
{{short description|Bolivian politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Casimira Rodríguez
| office = Minister of Justice
| birth_date = 21 October 1966
| country = Bolivia
| president = Evo Morales
| successor = Celima Torrico
| termstart = January 2006
| termend = February 2007
| nationality = Bolivian
| occupation = Politician; Trade unionist
}}
Casimira Rodríguez (born 1966) was the Bolivian Justice Minister from February 2006 until January 23, 2007. She is a former leader in the Domestic Workers' Union, which she helped found. Rodríguez was Bolivia's first indigenous Quechua woman to serve as a government minister.
Career
At the age of 13 she was taken—essentially kidnapped—from her rural village in Mizque and brought to the city of Cochabamba to work, with the promise that she would be given in return the schooling and care her campesino parents could not provide.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The hope of justice for Bolivia’s women and children|url=https://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07_panel_4_5.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061215025505/http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07_panel_4_5.pdf |archive-date=2006-12-15 |access-date=|website=UNICEF}} Instead, her supposed employers held Rodríguez in abusive servitude for two years, forcing her to work long hours with no pay.
When she was 21 she became involved with the group which would become the Domestic Workers’ Union of Cochabamba.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Casimira Rodríguez|url=https://www.ashoka.org/en/fellow/casimira-rodriguez|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022211724/https://www.ashoka.org/en/fellow/casimira-rodriguez |archive-date=2020-10-22 |access-date=|website=}} This led to become a founding member of the Domestic Workers Federation in 1985;{{Cite web|title=Interview with Former Bolivian Justice Minister Casimira Rodríguez|url=https://nacla.org/news/2008/9/1/interview-former-bolivian-justice-minister-casimira-rodr%C3%ADguez|access-date=2020-08-06|website=NACLA|language=en}} it also led to her later election as the leader of the National Federation of Domestic Workers in Bolivia. She was instrumental in the creation and passage of the Domestic Workers’ Protection Law, which Congress approved in 2003.
= Politics =
In February 2006 Rodríguez became Bolivia's new Minister of Justice.{{Cite news|date=2006-01-23|title=Morales toma juramento a los 16 ministros que integran el "nuevo Gabinete del pueblo"|language=es|work=El País|url=https://elpais.com/internacional/2006/01/23/actualidad/1137970802_850215.html|access-date=2020-08-06|issn=1134-6582}} She was replaced in a cabinet change in January 2007.{{Cite web|date=2007-01-25|title=Morales cambia casi la mitad de su gabinete al año de acceder al poder|url=https://www.eldiariomontanes.es/prensa/20070125/internacional/morales-cambia-casi-mitad_20070125.html|access-date=2020-08-06|website=El Diario Montañes|language=es-ES}} She was the first indigenous Quechua woman to serve as a government minister.{{Cite web|title=Casimira Rodríguez|url=https://www.americasquarterly.org/aq-author/casimira-rodriguez/|access-date=2020-08-06|website=Americas Quarterly|language=en-US}} During her ministry one focus was to elevate the role of "indigenous justice" (also known as "community justice") to a higher level.
In June 2015, she was appointed Departmental Secretary for Human Development of the Autonomous Departmental Government of Cochabamba.{{Cite web|title=Gobierno Autónomo Departamental de Cochabamba - CAMILA: "MEMORIAS DE LA MILITANCIA POLÍTICA EN EL TRABAJO ASALARIADO DEL HOGAR"|url=http://gobernaciondecochabamba.bo/article/es_BO/Prensa/Noticias/CAMILA:+%E2%80%9CMEMORIAS+DE+LA+MILITANCIA+POL%C3%8DTICA+EN+EL+TRABAJO+ASALARIADO+DEL+HOGAR%E2%80%9D/2003/?F2707431514421PQ32S=_|access-date=2020-08-06|website=gobernaciondecochabamba.bo|language=es}}
= Awards and recognition =
The World Methodist Peace Prize was awarded to Rodríguez in 2003 recognising her "courage, creativity and perseverance in the fight for the labor and legal rights of domestic workers in Bolivia".{{Cite web|title=Bolivia: una líder metodista es la nueva Ministra de Justicia|url=https://protestantedigital.com/internacional/17345/bolivia-una-lider-metodista-es-la-nueva-ministra-de-justicia|access-date=2020-08-06|website=Protestante Digital|language=es}}
In 2007 Rodríguez was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship for her work in "...breaking the pattern of exploitation, trafficking, and discrimination suffered by more than 150,000 Bolivian domestic workers". She has been outspoken about the lack of rights for undocumented domestic workers in the USA.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060805205555/http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umw/assembly/news/bolivian/ Bolivian Justice Minister to Speak at Assembly]
{{E Morales cabinet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Casimira}}
Category:21st-century Bolivian politicians
Category:21st-century Bolivian women politicians
Category:Bolivian people of Quechua descent
Category:Christian Peace Conference members
Category:Evo Morales administration cabinet members
Category:Justice ministers of Bolivia
Category:People from Cochabamba Department
Category:Women government ministers of Bolivia
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