Rubén Callisaya

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

Rubén Callisaya
Official portrait, 2014
Member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz
In office 19 January 2010 – 18 January 2015
Substitute	Lidia Paucara (2010–2014)
Preceded by	Claudia Paredes
Succeeded by	María Eugenia Calcina
Constituency	Party list
Personal details
Born	Donato Rubén Callisaya Mayta (1961-05-24) 24 May 1961 Coripata, La Paz, Bolivia
Political party	Movement for Socialism (since 1999)
Alma mater	Higher University of San Andrés
Occupation	Politician trade unionist

Donato Rubén Callisaya Mayta (born 24 May 1961) is a Bolivian politician and trade unionist who served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from La Paz from 2010 to 2015.

Callisaya was born in Coripata, a predominantly agricultural settlement dedicated to coca cultivation, and moved to the capital to attend secondary school. He abandoned law studies at the Higher University of San Andrés to pursue a career at the National State Railroad Company, where he worked for twelve years between 1985 until the enterprise's privatization in 1996.

Following his dismissal, Callisaya established himself as a share taxi driver in urban La Paz. He joined the department's drivers' federation and assumed positions of union leadership: secretary of conflicts from 1999 to 2002, then general secretary from 2003 to 2006. A member of the Movement for Socialism, Callisaya suffered two electoral defeats before being appointed counselor to the La Paz prefecture in 2008. He won a seat in the Chamber of Deputies the following year and was not nominated for reelection.

Early life and career

Early life and education

Rubén Callisaya was born on 24 May 1961 in Coripata, an Aymara settlement in the Nor Yungas Province of eastern La Paz Department. The area is known for its coca cultivation: Callisaya's father, Eulogio, was a cocalero who made a living as a carrier. He made regular trips through the treacherous Yungas trail route – better known as "Death Road" – to make cargo deliveries. Cristina Mayta, Rubén's mother, was an esteemed merchant in their community.

Callisaya attended school in Coripata, where he studied through seventh-grade primary. He moved to La Paz to pursue secondary education, attending the Gualberto Villarroel School – an institute noted for catering to the country's rural migrant youth. He paused his studies after receiving his baccalaureate to focus on work and later took them back up at the Higher University of San Andrés, where he studied law and political science for two years.

Career and trade unionism

Callisaya worked as a railroad worker at the National State Railroad Company for the better part of twelve years between 1985 and 1996. He was dismissed after the enterprise was privatized during the administration of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada – one of hundreds of workers who lost employment as the company was gutted by foreign consortiums.

Forced into early retirement, Callisaya found self-employment as a driver for hire. Using funds from his severance package, he purchased two minibuses, which he operated as share taxis. He joined the 1 May Departmental Federation of Drivers of La Paz shortly thereafter and gained a foothold in union politics as the organization's secretary of conflicts from 1999 to 2002. He went on to hold a succession of union posts through the early 2000s, capped by his election as general secretary of the Christ of May Mixed Transport Union in 2003 to 2006.

Chamber of Deputies

Election

Further information: 2009 Bolivian general election

Callisaya became acquainted with left-wing political movements during his service in the rail industry. Already before his time as a union leader, he had received overtures to join the Revolutionary Left Movement, but talks never panned out. In 1999, he became affiliated with the Movement for Socialism (MAS), which established a long-term accord with the nation's drivers' unions. His dual nominations for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in the 2002 election – on the MAS's electoral list and as a substitute in single-member circumscription 7 alongside future lawmaker Cristina Rojas – both failed, as did his candidacy for the La Paz Municipal Council in 2004, where the MAS won three councillors while Callisaya was fourth on the list.

Financial constraints prevented Callisaya from running for office in the 2005 election. He gained his first political position in 2008 when – following the recall of Prefect José Luis Paredes and the appointment of Pablo Ramos – he was made departmental counselor to the prefecture, representing Murillo Province. His term kept him in good standing with the department's drivers' unions, who, in 2009, selected him as their representative in parliament. He was the lowest-ranked candidate on the MAS's parliamentary list in the La Paz Department to win a seat.

Tenure

Callisaya served the length of his term on the Industry, Commerce, Transport, and Tourism Committee and was leader of the MAS delegation in La Paz Department from 2012 to 2013. He took part in the elaboration and passage of the General Law on Transport, a landmark piece of legislation for members of the transportation sector.

At the same time, Callisaya's term was rocked by scandal over his ties to the "Narco-Lebanese" Georges Chafic, a Lebanon-born dual national caught smuggling some 390 kilograms (860 lb) of cocaine. Per his own account, Callisaya met Chafic – a member of the MAS – through colleague deputy Samuel Pamuri; the pair granted Chafic permits to use official vehicles and even suggested him for a diplomatic role, given his Lebanese language fluency. The controversy led some in the MAS to seek the two lawmakers' suspension or even expulsion from office.

Callisaya was not nominated for reelection at the end of his term. In general, the seats afforded to the drivers' unions belonged to the sector at-large, as opposed to any single individual. Rarely were incumbents re-nominated: preference among the organizations was to rotate out their representatives. Union executive Franklin Durán – whom Callisaya had lobbied be nominated for Senate – instead succeeded him as the drivers' member for La Paz.

Commission assignments

• Plural Economy, Production, and Industry Commission
  • Industry, Commerce, Transport, and Tourism Committee (2010–2015)

Electoral history

Electoral history of Rubén Callisaya

Year	Office	Party		Votes			Result	Ref.
				Total	%	P.
2002	Deputy		Movement for Socialism	Disqualified			Lost
			Movement for Socialism	6,910	12.20%	4th	Lost
2004	Councillor		Movement for Socialism	74,563	19.88%	2nd	Lost
2009	Deputy		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: Periodo Legislativo 2011–2012". diputados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Diputados del Estado Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 26 May 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
• "Comisiones y Comités: Periodo Legislativo 2012–2013". diputados.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Cámara de Diputados del Estado Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
• "Coripata – Provincia Nor Yungas". educa.com.bo (in Spanish). 19 December 2015. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
• "Donato Rubén Callisaya Mayta". vicepresidencia.gob.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Vicepresidencia del Estado Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
• "Elecciones Generales 2002 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 17 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
• "Elecciones Municipales 2004 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
• "Elecciones Generales 2009 | Atlas Electoral". atlaselectoral.oep.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Órgano Electoral Plurinacional. Archived from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
• "Nómina de candidaturas inscritas: Movimiento al Socialismo – Instrumento Político por la Soberanía de los Pueblos". bolivia.com. La Paz. Archived from the original on 3 June 2002. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
• "Nómina de candidatos a diputados plurinominales: Elecciones Generales 2002". cne.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Corte Nacional Electoral. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
• "Nómina de candidatos electos: Elecciones Generales 2009" (PDF). cne.org.bo (in Spanish). La Paz: Corte Nacional Electoral. 22 December 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

Digital and print publications

• "Anuncian que Franklin Durán irá por una diputación" [Callisaya Announces That Franklin Durán Will Seek Election to the Lower Chamber] (in Spanish). La Paz. ERBOL. 10 July 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
• Claure, Ramón (14 March 2009). "A 13 años de la capitalización de ENFE" [13 Years On from the Privatization of ENFE]. Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. Archived from the original on 20 October 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
• "Diputados dieron permisos a narco" [Deputies Gave Permits to a Narco]. La Estrella del Oriente (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. ERBOL. 2 October 2013. p. 15. Retrieved 24 October 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
• "Elecciones: La Cámara de Diputados acepta la renuncia de 14 opositores y 10 oficialistas" [Elections: Chamber of Deputies Accepts the Resignation of 14 Opposition and 10 Ruling Party Legislators]. Oxígeno (in Spanish). La Paz. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
• "MAS pide suspender a diputados Pamuri y Callisaya por el caso libanés" [MAS Looks to Suspend Deputies Pamuri and Callisaya for the Lebanese Case]. Opinión (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 3 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
• "Promulgarán Ley General de Transportes este martes" [President to Sign General Transportation Law Tuesday] (in Spanish). La Paz. Agencia de Noticias Fides. 15 August 2011. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
• "Sectores sociales afines al MAS piden curules" [MAS-Aligned Social Sectors Request Parliamentary Seats]. Los Tiempos (in Spanish). Cochabamba. 7 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
• Tedesqui, Marcelo (10 April 2013). "Narcolibanés se infiltró con aportes al MAS" [Lebanese Narco Had Support Infiltrating the MAS]. El Deber (in Spanish). Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2023 – via eju!.

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. 154–156. 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. p. 121. ISBN 978-99974-0-021-5. OCLC 1050945993 – via the Internet Archive.
• Vargas Luna, María Elena; Villavicencio Arancibia, Jois Sarelly, eds. (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. p. 47. OCLC 961105285 – via the Internet Archive.

External links

• Parliamentary profile Office of the Vice President (in Spanish).
• Biographic profile ERBOL (in Spanish).