Country: Bolivia

Group: Guarani

Date Finalized: 10/29/20

Team: Rayna Castillo (lead), Natasha Chandra, Thomas Chia

Content Warning: slavery, land confiscation, death

Approximate Time Period: 1600-present

There is strong evidence of forced labor of the Guarani in Bolivia. With ample information available from reliable sources, the data quality score is a 3. The Guarani are an indigenous group in Bolivia, whose experience with forced labor started as early as the 1600s when many indigenous groups lost the rights to their land (Sharma, 2006). The loss of their land equated to the loss of their livelihood, causing them to become reliant on external parties for compensation (Sharma, 2006). In 1892, Bolivian soldiers took what remained of Guarani land, and forced them to work on landowners’ estates (BBC, 2009). In the 1950s, a system reliant on debt bondage and violent threats took hold and now binds approximately 10,000 Guarani to private ranches (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, n.d.; BBC, 2009; Sharma, 2006). The system itself is self-perpetuating, as a lack of literacy and necessary documents, as well as debt inheritance prevents future generations from gaining any independence (BBC, 2009; Sharma, 2006). This debt is typically created through a combination of low wages (averaging $1.28-$1.92 per day), inflated prices for the ranch’s products, and loans that accrue interest (Sharma, 2006). While many in Bolivia’s government and indigenous groups classify the system as slavery, opponents— often local politicians and landowners— claim the label is unfounded, citing loans as favors and the relationships between landowners and workers as familial (BBC, 2009). While the recent Bolivian government has attempted to address these issues with agrarian land reform, only five to ten percent of communal land has been returned to the Guarani and forced labor continues to persist (Minority Rights Group International, n.d.; BBC, 2009). 

Sources:

  1. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. (n.d.). Captive Communities: Situation of the Guaraní Indigenous People and Contemporary Forms of Slavery in the Bolivian Chaco. Bolivia – The Situation of the Guarani People. http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/ComunidadesCautivas.eng/Chap.II.htm
  2. Minority Rights Group International (n.d.). Lowland Indigenous Peoples. Lowland Indigenous Peoples – Minority Rights. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/lowland-indigenous-peoples/.
  3. BBC (2009, May 14). Outrage at ‘slavery’ in Bolivia. BBC. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8047960.stm
  4. Sharma, B. (2006). Contemporary forms of slavery in Bolivia. Anti-Slavery International. https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3955&context=globaldocs