Martha Poma

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Poma and the second or maternal family name is Luque.

Martha Poma
Official portrait, 2012
Senator for La Paz
In office 19 January 2010 – 18 January 2015
Substitute	Víctor Castro
Preceded by	Luis Vásquez
Succeeded by	Jorge Choque
Personal details
Born	Martha Poma Luque (1964-11-19) 19 November 1964 Chojñapata Chiñaja, La Paz, Bolivia
Political party	Movement for Socialism (2006–present)
Other political affiliations	Integrative Social Autonomy (2004)
Occupation	Artisan politician trade unionist

Martha Poma Luque (born 19 November 1964) is a Bolivian politician, trade unionist, and textile artisan who served as senator for La Paz from 2010 to 2015.

Born in highland Omasuyos Province, Poma spent her youth between the rural Altiplano and the migrant city of El Alto. A daughter of artisans, she worked in handicrafts, producing traditional indigenous textiles for much of her life. Poma taught women's workshops on weaving and sewing for the Catholic charity Caritas and held leadership positions in artisan organizations, including as general secretary of the Pachamama Artisans' Association. She served as chair of the Central Council of Artisans of El Alto and represented her trade's labor organizations at the Regional Worker Center and the National Confederation of Artisans.

Following an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the El Alto Municipal Council in 2004, Poma joined the ranks of the ruling Movement for Socialism. She failed in her first bid for Constituent Assembly in 2006 and finally won a seat in the Senate in 2009. Poma was the first indigenous woman to represent La Paz in the Senate and the first to serve on its directorate. As a representative of El Alto's artisan sector, Poma led the push to revive a long-gridlocked artisanry bill and defended her constituency even when their position conflicted with ruling party policy. She was not nominated for reelection.

Early life and career

Early life and education

Martha Poma was born on 19 November 1964 in Chojñapata Chiñaja, a canton in the Ancoraimes Municipality of western La Paz's highland Omasuyos Province. Poma was the lone daughter in a family of twelve siblings; her parents, both artisans, made their livings in multiple fields: Poma's mother operated a small family-owned restaurant and specialized in embroidery in her off time, while her father made weavings from alpaca fiber during his days away from the mines.

Poma spent her youth between the city and the countryside. Her family practiced agriculture and animal husbandry on the Altiplano; she was taught to work the fields, harvesting traditional Andean crops, primarily maize and potatoes. From age 4, Poma spent regular stints in La Paz's west end (now El Alto), where she attended the Henriette de la Chevalerie School up through her third year of intermediate. She completed the remainder of her studies at adult school, graduating with a baccalaureate from the Center for Accelerated Secondary Education in 2003.

Career and trade unionism

Like her parents, Poma worked as a textile artisan for a significant part of her life. She labored for over two decades producing traditional indigenous textiles of the region: alpaca fiber garments, macramé, polleras, etc. Her family sold their handicraft on the informal market, the dominant trade channel in El Alto and La Paz's urban periphery. To improve her skill, Poma attended regular training workshops hosted by the Pastoral Social, and she worked directly with the Church-affiliated charity Caritas Bolivia to deliver classes on sewing and weaving. Poma spent eighteen years as a trainer for Caritas's Pachamama Center from 1988 to 2005, providing vocational education to over 1,000 women in El Alto and surrounding provinces. During this time, she served as general secretary of the Pachamama Artisans' Association.

Poma also held local civic positions as chair of her son's school board from 1994 to 2000 and president of her community's neighborhood council for two years afterward. At the same time, she made headwinds in her sector's trade union circuit: she served as executive secretary of the Central Council of Artisans of El Alto from 1992 to 1996 and was a regional executive of the National Confederation of Artisans of Bolivia from 1998 to 2001. As a representative of the city's seventy-four artisan organizations, Poma also held a seat on the directorate of the El Alto Regional Worker Center.

Chamber of Senators

Election

Further information: 2009 Bolivian general election

Poma ran for a seat on the El Alto Municipal Council in 2004 as part of a slate of candidates presented by Integrative Social Autonomy (ASI), a minor political front. The 2004 municipal elections were the first to allow local political organizations to compete, and many groups were formed to contest it; in El Alto, the field was especially crowded. Most smaller contenders saw disappointing showings: Poma – who headlined ASI's list of substitute councillors – was not elected, as ASI won no seats.

Poma ran again for public office in 2006, this time with a more established front: the governing Movement for Socialism (MAS). She was nominated for a party-list seat in the Constituent Assembly, though in a low slot that gave negligible prospects for victory. In effect, the electoral system in place in 2006 made it improbable for any party – no matter how dominant – to win more than two, at most three, party-list constituents. Poma's name was kept in mind for future contests, and in 2009, allied social movement organizations affiliated with the MAS nominated her for a seat in the Senate. On this occasion, she won.

Tenure

Poma was the first indigenous chola and co-second woman to represent La Paz in the Senate. Following the accession of senator René Martínez to the presidency of the Senate, Poma was voted to replace him as first vice president, making her the first indigenous woman to serve on the upper chamber's governing directorate.

In office, Poma's legislative priorities centered on the needs of her sectoral base: artisans. She was the driving force behind the passage of Bolivia's Artisanry Promotion Law, enacted in 2012 after a near-quarter-century of being stuck in development. The legislation formally incorporated the country's artisan craftsmen – metal, textile, and woodworkers, tailors, even painters and photographers, etc. – into the organized economy, allowing for greater ease of doing business and providing tradesmen state-allocated funds for vocational training, business, and sales support.

On occasion, Poma's sectoral loyalties transcended partisan affiliation. In one notable instance, Poma was the lone ruling party senator to oppose a bill providing limited amnesty for drivers of unregistered vehicles. She argued that it would incentivize peddlers of contraband second-hand clothes to seek their own pardon, to the detriment of legitimate clothiers.

In keeping with the MAS's general practice of rotating out its incumbent representatives in favor of new cadres, Poma was not nominated for reelection in 2014, concluding her legislative service after just one term. She was briefly placed in contention for the El Alto mayoralty when the party was analyzing running a woman in the 2015 election. Former minister Mabel Monje won out there before it was ultimately decided to re-nominate incumbent Edgar Patana, who went on to lose reelection.

Commission assignments

• Chamber of Senators Directorate (First Vice President: 2010–2012)
• State Security, Armed Forces, and Bolivian Police Commission
  • Armed Forces and Bolivian Police Committee (Secretary: 2013–2014)
  • State Security and Fight Against Drug Trafficking (Secretary: 2010)
• Plural Economy, Production, Industry, and Industrialization Commission (President: 2012–2013, 2014–2015)
  • Plural Economy, Productive Development, Public Works, and Infrastructure Committee (Secretary: 2010)

Electoral history

Electoral history of Martha Poma

Year	Office	Party		Votes			Result	Ref.
				Total	%	P.
2004	Councillor		Integrative Social Autonomy	2,929	1.09%	6th	Lost
2006	Constituent		Movement for Socialism	558,886	63.82%	1st	Lost
2009	Senator		Movement for Socialism	1,099,259	80.28%	1st	Won
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

Works cited

Online and list sources

• "Comisiones y Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2010–2011". El Diario (in Spanish). La Paz. 3 February 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  • "Comisiones y Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2010–2011". senado.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Senadores del Estado Plurinacional. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
• "Comisiones y Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2012–2013". senado.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Senadores del Estado Plurinacional. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
• "Comisiones y Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2013–2014". senado.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Senadores del Estado Plurinacional. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
• "Comisiones y Comités: Gestión Legislativa 2014–2015". senado.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Senadores del Estado Plurinacional. 27 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
• "Directiva Camaral: Gestión Legislativa 2010–2011". senado.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Senadores del Estado Plurinacional. 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on 18 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• "Directiva Camaral: Gestión Legislativa 2011–2012". Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 21 January 2011. p. 5. Retrieved 17 July 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
• "Elecciones Municipales 2004 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
• "Elecciones Constituyentes 2006 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
• "Elecciones Generales 2009 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
• "Nómina de candidatos a constituyentes por el departamento de La Paz". El Diario (in Spanish). La Paz. 9 April 2006. p. 1. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.

Digital and print publications

• "Artesanos logran ley después de 26 años de peregrinaje" [Artisans Achieve Law After 26 Years of Negotiations]. Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 3 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• Choque, Freddy Grover (21 May 2011). "Martha Poma: 'Regularizar chutos dará paso al reingreso libre de la ropa usada'" [Martha Poma: "Regularizing 'Chutos' Will Give Way to the Free Entry of Contraband Clothing"]. La Prensa (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
• "Edgar Patana es el candidato para la alcaldía de El Alto por el MAS" [Edgar Patana Is the MAS's Candidate for the El Alto Mayoralty] (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
• Farfán, Williams (9 November 2012). "Evo promulga la Ley de Promoción del Artesano" [Evo Signs Artisanry Promotion Law]. La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• "FEJUVE y COR alteñas eligieron candidatos uninominales para el MAS" [El Alto FEJUVE and COR Elect the MAS's Single-Member Candidates]. El Alto Digital (in Spanish). 3 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
• "Histórico: El MAS busca a una mujer para candidata alcaldesa para El Alto" [Historic: The MAS Looks for a Woman to Be the Mayoral Candidate in El Alto]. Radio Pachamama (in Spanish). El Alto. 4 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
• "Lucio Marca afirma que Evo aplazó a Patana y pidió una candidata" [Lucio Marca Affirms That Evo Sidelined Patana and Asked for a Female Candidate]. Radio Pachamama (in Spanish). El Alto. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
• "El MAS controla el legislativo con 2/3" [The MAS Controls 2/3 of the Legislature]. La Prensa (in Spanish). La Paz. 7 December 2009. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• Ortiz, Rudy (28 May 2011). "Amnistía: Senado aprobó legalizar vehículos indocumentados" [Amnesty: Senate Approves Legalization of Undocumented Vehicles]. El Día (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
• Peralta, Pablo (1 October 2012). "Martha Poma: De artesana pasó a ocupar una senaduría en la Asamblea" [Martha Poma: From Artisan to Occupying a Seat in the Senate]. Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2023 – via FMBolivia.
• Quenallata, Claudia (21 March 2022). Cusicanqui, Patricia (ed.). "Senadora Quispe: 'A mí me tocó dejar los estudios por ser mujer y por falta de recursos'" [Senator Quispe: "I Had to Drop Out Because I Was a Woman and Because I Lacked Money"]. fundacionperiodismo.org (in Spanish). La Paz: Fundación para el Periodismo. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
• "René Martínez elegido presidente titular de la Cámara de Senadores" [René Martínez Elected President of the Chamber of Senators]. La Patria (in Spanish). Oruro. 2 November 2010. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• "Senadora del MAS rechaza legalización de autos chutos" [MAS Senator Rejects Legalization of Chutos]. La Palabra del Beni (in Spanish). Trinidad. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 28 May 2011. p. 16. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
• "Senadora del MAS teme que ahora los 'ropavejeros' pidan ley de excepción" [MAS Senator Fears That Now the "Ropavejeros" Will Demand an Amnesty Law]. La Patria (in Spanish). Oruro. 28 May 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• "Senadoras y senadores del Estado Plurinacional: Martha Poma Luque" [Senators of the Plurinational State: Martha Poma Luque]. Nuevo Estado (in Spanish). Vol. 2, no. 4. La Paz. November 2013. p. 19. Retrieved 14 July 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
• "Senado retoma tratamiento del Proyecto de Ley Artesanal" [Senate Takes Back Up Artisanry Bill]. Los Tiempos (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
• "La Sole le quita su bastión al MAS pero necesita alianzas" [La Sole Flips MAS Stronghold but Needs Alliances]. El Compadre (in Spanish). El Alto. 30 March 2015. p. 5. Retrieved 24 October 2023 – via the Internet Archive.

Books and encyclopedias

• Gonzales Salas, Inés, ed. (2013). Biografías: Historias de vida en la Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional (in Spanish). Editorial Gente Común; ERBOL; Fundación Friedrich Ebert; IDEA Internacional. pp. 449–451. ISBN 978-99954-93-05-9. OCLC 876429743 – via the Internet Archive.
• Romero Ballivián, Salvador (2018). Quiroga Velasco, Camilo (ed.). Diccionario biográfico de parlamentarios 1979–2019 (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). La Paz: FUNDAPPAC; Fundación Konrad Adenauer. pp. 462–463. ISBN 978-99974-0-021-5. OCLC 1050945993 – via the Internet Archive.

External links

• Parliamentary profile Office of the Vice President (in Spanish).
• Parliamentary profile Chamber of Senators (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 July 2014.