Martha Yujra

"It is important to preserve the cultural practices of our Bolivian people because they enrich the national identity. My commitment, as a woman in pollera, is to continue fighting for a country united in diversity."

"It is women's time. We are the ones who take the reins of this country."

"Today Bolivians are more united than ever."

"Those days I was persecuted and in hiding. The masistas wanted to hang me;... my children were scattered. Weeks before, we were at the barricades, rain or shine,... praying in El Alto;... we could no longer resist so much abuse, the mockery of the sovereign vote of the people... That is why we have begun to organize ourselves ... against that regime, to return democracy to our children..."

"In the mine, our parents told us women: "You have to learn to cook because you have to have a husband. You don't have to study, you don't have to give your opinion". I have lived those times, and I have rebelled."

"[I want to remembered] as an Aymara woman, from El Alto, and humble. But a leader should never say "me, me, me", but rather the bases have to decide who to remember and who to forget."

"...he who does nothing fears nothing. I have no reason to hide, why hide?"