Farides Vaca

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

Farides Vaca
Member of the Chamber of Deputies from Beni circumscription 62
In office 10 February 2010 – 18 January 2015
Substitute	Carmelo Egüez Marco Antonio Takusi
Preceded by	María Teresa Núñez
Succeeded by	Ana Vidal
Constituency	Ballivián Marbán Moxos
Personal details
Born	Farides Vaca Suárez (1969-09-10) 10 September 1969 San Ignacio de Moxos, Beni, Bolivia
Alma mater	Center for Accelerated Secondary Education
Occupation	Librarain politician

Farides Vaca Suárez (born 10 September 1969) is a Bolivian librarian and politician who served as a uninominal member of the Chamber of Deputies from Beni, representing circumscription 62 from 2010 to 2015. Vaca spent the majority of her professional career away from the political field, working as administrator of the 18 de Noviembre Hospital in San Ignacio de Moxos and as librarian of the Technical University of Beni's biochemistry and pharmacy center. Despite her minimal political experience, she was invited to contest a seat in the Chamber of Deputies as part of a push for renovation among the conservative opposition's leading cadres. After finishing her term in the legislature, Vaca moved on to local government, forming part of Governor Alejandro Unzueta's administration as departmental director of education and culture and, later, secretary of human development.

Early life and career

Farides Vaca was born on 10 September 1969 in San Ignacio de Moxos, Beni, to Luis Vaca and Carmen Suárez. Her mother made a living as a rural schoolteacher, while her father worked as the foreman of a nearby ranch. Due to her parent's vocations, Vaca spent much of her childhood in the care of her maternal grandparents up until her mother found employment in the city. She completed her early education at small schools in San Ignacio before traveling to La Paz to attend the city's Canadian Baptist Institute, simultaneously working as a secretary at the nearby San Martín de Porres Institute. Returning to San Ignacio, Vaca attended the Gilfredo Cortés Candia Women's School before finally graduating from the town's Center for Accelerated Secondary Education. After spending some time as administrator of San Ignacio's 18 de Noviembre Hospital, Vaca moved to Trinidad, where, from 2002 to 2005, she served as the librarian of the Technical University of Beni's biochemistry and pharmacy center. Additionally, she owned and operated a small San Ignacio-to-Trinidad transport business alongside her husband.

Political career

Vaca's entry into politics was facilitated through the National Convergence (CN) alliance, a loose consortium of political forces opposed to the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP). Formed to contest the 2009 general election, this fragmentary coalition provided ample autonomy for regional political leaders to designate candidates in their respective departments. In Beni, under the direction of Prefect Ernesto Suárez, CN placed its bets on political renovation, presenting a slate of mostly young candidates with minimal previous party experience. Such was the case with Vaca, who was invited to contest Beni's circumscription 62, encompassing her home Moxos Province and the surrounding Ballivián and Marbán provinces. Vaca came out on top in one of the most closely contested races of the entire electoral cycle, defeating her MAS opponent by just over 100 votes. The immensely narrow margin reflected her district's uniquely divided demographics, split between rural indigenous peoples and recent highland peasant settlers affiliated with the MAS and Spanish-speaking urbanites whose pro-autonomy views aligned them with CN.

Upon the conclusion of her tenure in the Chamber of Deputies, Vaca retired from national politics, though not from public service. In 2021, she sought to represent the Moxos Province in the Beni Departmental Legislative Assembly on behalf of the Third System Movement (MTS). Although Beni's unique electoral system effectively guaranteed the minority party one seat per province, the MTS's third-place finish in Moxos precluded Vaca from entering the legislature. Nonetheless, the election of MTS candidate Alejandro Unzueta as governor of Beni opened the door for Vaca to continue in public administration. The governor appointed her to serve as departmental director of education and culture before later including Vaca in his cabinet as secretary of human development.

Electoral history

Electoral history of

Year	Office	Alliance		Votes			Result	Ref.
				Total	%	P.
2009	Deputy		National Convergence	5,956	44.71%	1st	Won
2021	Assemblywoman		Third System Movement	1,111	17.49%	3rd	Lost
Source: Plurinational Electoral Organ | Electoral Atlas

References

Bibliography

• Ascarrunz, Julio (2021). "Elecciones Subnacionales Bolivia 2021: Resultados en Clave de Representación Política" (PDF). Revista Elecciones (in Spanish). Lima: Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales. 20 (21): 264. doi:10.53557/Elecciones.2021.v20n21. ISSN 1994-5272.
• Gonzales Salas, Inés, ed. (2013). Biografías: Historias de Vida en la Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional (PDF) (in Spanish). Instituto Internacional para la Democracia y la Asistencia Electoral; Fundación Friedrich Ebert; ERBOL; Editorial Gente Común. pp. 50–52. ISBN 978-99954-93-05-9.
• Romero Ballivián, Salvador (2018). Quiroga Velasco, Camilo Sergio (ed.). Diccionario Biográfico de Parlamentarios 1979–2019 (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). La Paz: Fundación de Apoyo al Parlamento y la Participación Ciudadana; Fundación Konrad Adenauer. pp. 609–610. ISBN 978-99974-0-021-5 – via ResearchGate.
• Vargas, María Elena; Villavicencio, Jois (2014). Primera Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional de Bolivia, Cámara de Diputados: Diccionario Biográfico, Diputadas y Diputados Titulares y Suplentes 2010–2015 (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Diputados del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. p. 151 – via Calaméo.

External links

• Deputies profile Vice Presidency (in Spanish).
• Biographic profile ERBOL (in Spanish).