Betty Tejada
Official portrait of Betty Tejada flanked to the left by the Bolivian tricolor and the Wiphala.
Official portrait, 2013
President of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
18 January 2013 – 21 January 2014
Preceded byRebeca Delgado
Succeeded byMarcelo Elío
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
from Santa Cruz
In office
22 January 2010 – 2 January 2015
SubstituteMauro Peña
Preceded byAlejandro Colanzi
Succeeded byEliane Capobianco
ConstituencyParty list
In office
2 August 2002 – 22 January 2006
SubstituteEduardo Prudencio
Preceded byHelen Hayes
Succeeded byArminda Méndez
ConstituencyParty list
Substitute Member of the
Chamber of Deputies from Santa Cruz
In office
6 August 1997 – 2 August 2002
DeputyRoberto Landívar
Preceded byNeptaly Mendoza
Succeeded byMary Rocabado
ConstituencyParty list
Personal details
Born
Betty Asunta Tejada Soruco

(1959-06-05) 5 June 1959
Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia
Political partyMovement for Socialism (after 2005)
Other political
affiliations		New Republican Force (before 2004)
SpouseRamón Prada
Children
Alma materHigher University of San Andrés
Occupation
  • Ecologist
  • lawyer
  • politician
Signature

Betty Asunta Tejada Soruco (born 5 June 1959) is a Bolivian ecologist, lawyer, and politician who served as president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2014. A member of the Movement for Socialism, she served as party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Santa Cruz from 2010 to 2015. Prior to that, she served in the same position from 2002 to 2006 and as a substitute party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Santa Cruz under Roberto Landívar from 1997 to 2002, on behalf of the right-wing populist New Republican Force.

Early life and career

Betty Tejada was born on 5 June 1959 to a middle-class family in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. While her mother was a housewife, her father was one of the first electrical engineers in the city and a founding member of the Rural Electrification Cooperative, Santa Cruz's first electric association. Upon completing primary studies in that city, Tejada moved to La Paz, where she graduated high school before attending the Higher University of San Andrés to study law. Her education was briefly suspended by the 1980 coup d'état of Luis García Meza, during which time many documents were burned, causing her to lose a year of studies. Upon the university's reopening, Tejada returned to classes, graduating with a diploma in ecological economics.[1][2]

After that, Tejada returned to Santa Cruz, where she devoted her career to social services and environmental activities. During this time, Tejada worked to channel funds for the Modelo daycare center in the La Ramada barrio and founded the Santa Cruz Somos Todos urban movement.[3] Additionally, she is the founder of multiple environmental groups, including the Salpi Collective, dedicated to conserving the Piray River. Together with other women's rights activists, she co-founded the Santa Cruz Women's Christian Association and founded the Nuevo Poder feminist group.[4]

At age 19, Tejada married Ramón Prada, who served as prefect of the Santa Cruz Department during the administration of Hugo Banzer. Together they had three children: María Cecilia, María Laura, and María Nela. The latter is the incumbent minister of the presidency, serving in the administration of Luis Arce since 2020.[1][5]

Chamber of Deputies

Substitute deputy (1997–2002)

Tejada became active in politics through her membership in Nuevo Poder. For the 1997 general elections, the group formed a series of alliances with the country's major parties in a bid to facilitate greater women's representation in Congress.[6] Tejada joined the New Republican Force (NFR) and was elected as a substitute deputy from Santa Cruz under Roberto Landívar on the party's electoral list.[7][8] In early 2000, during the NFR's internal democratization process, the party appointed Tejada as its temporary departmental chief in Santa Cruz.[9] Once proper internal elections were held the following year, she was voted into a full term in that position.[7]

First term (2002–2006)

In the 2002 general elections, Tejada was elected as a titular member of the Chamber of Deputies from Santa Cruz.[10] However, she questioned the decision of the NFR's leader, Manfred Reyes Villa, to ally the party with the abortive government of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada. Her presence as one of multiple openly critical voices against party leadership led the NFR to support her ouster as departmental head through the election of Jaime Rivero in 2004. Tejada refused to recognize Rivero's "illegal election", claiming that her functions were not set to expire for another two years.[11] Tejada's public disagreements with Reyes Villa resulted in a permanent rupture between herself and the NFR when the party expelled her from its ranks.[12] For the duration of her term, she supported the administration of Sánchez de Lozada's successor, Carlos Mesa, who attempted to govern without partisan support, instead seeking to attract individual legislators to form a parliamentary majority, though he was ultimately unsuccessful.[7]

Second term (2010–2015)

In 2005, Tejada became one of several former rightists who joined the ranks of the emergent Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP).[5] Though she was absent from the 2005 elections, Tejada was convinced by former ombudsman Ana María Romero to run as a candidate for the MAS in the 2009 elections.[4] After being elected, Tejada served three consecutive terms on the Commission for Autonomies and Decentralization between 2010 and 2012.[13] During this time, Tejada also continued her environmental advocacy, drafting at least five laws relating to the environment throughout her term.[14]

In January 2013, the MAS caucus chose not to ratify Rebeca Delgado as president of the Chamber of Deputies due to disagreements over an asset forfeiture bill.[15] After four hours of extensive debate, the party elected Tejada to succeed Delgado on 17 January.[13] She was sworn in the following day.[16] Tejada's management lasted just over a year, and she was succeeded by Marcelo Elío on 21 January 2014.[17] Nearing the end of her term, she sought to run as a MAS candidate for Santa Cruz city councillor. However, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) ruled that all potential candidates must have lived in the districts in which they were running for at least two years, a fact that disqualified most incumbent deputies and senators from running in the 2015 regional elections. Her disapproval of the TSE's decision led Tejada to resign her seat on 2 January 2015, a few weeks before the new Legislative Assembly was sworn in.[18]

Santa Cruz Municipal Council

Despite not being allowed to stand as a candidate, Tejada nonetheless had the opportunity to join the Santa Cruz Municipal Council. At the recommendation of Mayor Percy Fernández, Angélica Sosa, president of the municipal council, appointed Tejada as her personal advisor. The decision was somewhat surprising as Tejada's party, the MAS, was the minority opposition bloc in the municipal council. Though Tejada ruled out joining the ranks of Fernández and Sosa's Santa Cruz Para Todos party, the MAS nonetheless affirmed that she no longer had "[any] connection with the organic structure of the party".[19]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Betty Tejada
Year Office Party Alliance Votes Result Ref.
Total  % P.
1997 Sub. Deputy New Republican Force ADN-NFR-PDC 126,863 24.04% 3rd[lower-alpha 1] Won [20]
2002 Deputy New Republican Force None 147,054 22.40% 3rd[lower-alpha 1] Won [21]
2009 Movement for Socialism None 441,705 40.91% 2nd[lower-alpha 1] Won [22]
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Presented on an electoral list. The data shown represents the share of the vote the entire party/alliance received in that constituency.

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 342
  2. ↑ Romero Ballivián 2018, pp. 584–585
  3. ↑ "Betty Tejada Soruco en las Redes Sociales". EABolivia (in Spanish). La Paz. 17 January 2013. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 Fernández, C.; Domínguez, A. (25 October 2017). "Betty Tejada habla sin pelos en la lengua y defiende sus ideales". El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  5. 1 2 "La nueva ministra de la Presidencia, María Nela Prada, vista desde los ojos de su madre". UNITEL (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. 11 November 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  6. ↑ Gonzales Salas 2013, pp. 342–343
  7. 1 2 3 Romero Ballivián 2018, p. 585
  8. ↑ Informe al H. Congreso Nacional.
  9. ↑ "NFR: Betty Tejada nueva jefa departamental". Agencia de Noticias Fides (in Spanish). La Paz. 31 July 2000. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  10. ↑ "Datos Oficiales de la CNE: Nomina de diputados y senadores electos". Agencia de Noticias Fides (in Spanish). La Paz. 13 July 2002. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "Cuestionan la vocación democrática de Manfred Reyes Villa". Agencia de Noticias Fides (in Spanish). La Paz. 13 May 2004. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Mealla Gutiérrez, Luis (14 April 2013). "Betty Tejada: La brigada cruceña es una gestora de trámites municipales". La Razón (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  13. 1 2 "Betty Tejada es la nueva presidenta de la Cámara de Diputados". Los Tiempos (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 17 January 2013. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Gonzales Salas 2013, p. 344
  15. ↑ Corz, Carlos (17 January 2013). "Diputada Betty Tejada es designada por el MAS como presidente de Diputados en reemplazo de Delgado". La Razón (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  16. ↑ Written at La Paz. "Betty Tejada jura como presidenta de Diputados con críticas a la oposición". Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 18 January 2013. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  17. ↑ "Elio presidirá en Diputados y Eugenio Rojas, en Senadores". ERBOL (in Spanish). La Paz. 16 January 2014. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  18. ↑ "Betty Tejada renuncia a la Cámara de Diputados". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 2 January 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Betty Tejada, exdiputada del MAS, asesora al concejo municipal cruceño". Página Siete (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 2 June 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Elecciones Generales 1997 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Elecciones Generales 2002 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  22. ↑ "Elecciones Generales 2009 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Plurinational Electoral Organ. Retrieved 5 June 2022.

Bibliography

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