Conscience of Fatherland
{{Short description|Political party in Bolivia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Conscience of Fatherland
| native_name = Conciencia de Patria
| native_name_lang = es
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| logo = Mónica_Medina_y_Carlos_Palenque.jpg
| logo_size =
| logo_upright =
| logo_alt = Campaign poster for Carlos Palenque
| caption = 1997 campaign poster
| colorcode = #B8860B
| abbreviation = CONDEPA
| leader = Carlos Palenque
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| founded = {{start date|1988|09|21|df=y}}
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| dissolved = {{end date|2002||}}
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| headquarters = La Paz
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| ideology = {{unbulleted list|Left-wing populism|Indigenismo}}
| position = Left-wing
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| seats1_title = Chamber of Deputies {{nobold|(1997)}}
| seats1 = {{Infobox political party/seats|19|130|hex=#B8860B}}
| seats2_title = Chamber of Senators {{nobold|(1997)}}
| seats2 = {{Infobox political party/seats|3|27|hex=#B8860B}}
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| country = Bolivia
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Conscience of the Fatherland ({{langx|es|Conciencia de Patria}}, abbreviated CONDEPA) was a populist political party in Bolivia in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The party was led by Carlos Palenque.
Goals
CONDEPA was founded in Tiwanaku on September 21, 1988.{{cite web |url=http://www.lostiempos.com/diario/actualidad/nacional/20060213/fiscalia-investigara-a-vocales-de-la-cne-por-caso_3152_3152.html |title=Fiscalía investigará a vocales de la CNE por caso Condepa |date=2006-02-13 |publisher=lostiempos.com |access-date=2010-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229171205/http://www.lostiempos.com/diario/actualidad/nacional/20060213/fiscalia-investigara-a-vocales-de-la-cne-por-caso_3152_3152.html |archive-date=2012-02-29 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=633107 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101175104/http://www.caracol.com.co/nota.aspx?id=633107 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-01 |title=El legado de Condepa y del "compadre" Carlos Palenque |date=2008-07-16 |publisher=caracol.com }} The party was primarily based in the La Paz Department.
CONDEPA was the first major party in Bolivia that appealed to the cultural identity of the Aymaras, the indigenous majority of the country.{{cite journal |jstor=3875831 |title=From Exclusion to Inclusion: Bolivia's 2002 Elections |last=Van Cott |first=Donna Lee |date=November 2003 |journal=Journal of Latin American Studies|volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=751–775|doi=10.1017/S0022216X03006977 |s2cid=147569474 }} It borrowed katarista symbols and used the wiphala flag.{{cite book |last=Van Cott |first=Donna Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6n40IdN85oC&pg=PA84 |title=From Movements to Parties in Latin America: The Evolution of Ethnic Politics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007|isbn=9780521707039 }} p. 84 Palenque often used references to Aymara culture in his campaigns.
Election history
The party won strong support amongst urban poor, amongst Aymaras that had migrated to the urban centres.
CONDEPA lost the mayoral post of La Paz in 1995.
At the time of the 1999 elections the CONDEPA was a party in crisis.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=riQIjWfheGkC&pg=PA406 |title=Rostros de la democracia: una mirada mestiza |last=Toranzo Roca |first=Carlos |publisher=Plural Ed. [u.a.] |year=2006|isbn=9789990586930 }} p. 406 It was discredited by having entered into Hugo Banzer's government. The party had suffered the death of its leader Carlos Palenque, and divisions had erupted amongst his successors. Moreover, the influence of the mass media connected to the party had decreased significantly. As the party lost the municipal contest in El Alto in these elections, it lost its last remaining political stronghold in the country.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vZjlLTcrBYC&pg=PA93l |title=Alto, Rebel City: Self and Citizenship in Andean Bolivia |last=Lazar |first=Sian |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2008|isbn=978-0822341543 }} p. 93
Ahead of the 2002 general election, CONDEPA launched Nicolás Valdivia as its presidential candidate and Esperanza Huanca as vice-presidential candidate.{{cite web |url=http://www.bolivia.com/especiales2002/elecciones/partidos_candidatos/CONDEPA/index.asp |title=Elecciones Generales Bolivia 2002 |year=2002 |publisher=bolivia.com}} CONDEPA lost all of its 22 seats in the Congress of Bolivia in the elections. The implosion of CONDEPA enabled the nascent Movement for Socialism to gain a wide following amongst indigenous urban poor. CONDEPA-Patriotic Movement lost its registration at the National Electoral Court shortly after the 2002 election.{{cite web |url=http://www.eldiario.net/noticias/2005/2005_12/nt051229/ |title=Cuatro partidos políticos pierden personería jurídica |year=2005 |publisher=eldiario.net |access-date=2010-08-05 |archive-date=2011-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718153248/http://www.eldiario.net/noticias/2005/2005_12/nt051229/ |url-status=dead }}