CAQUIAVIRI PRESENTS THE CH'UTA OF COROCORO AT THE ALP

by Mario R. Durán Chuquimia (*)

Yesterday, November 10, 2026, a group of folkloristas from the municipality of Caquiaviri presented the Ch'uta of Corocoro at an event in the Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional (ALP). In Bolivia, the Ch'uta of Corocoro, due to its particular characteristics—associated with the rebelliousness of the miners, the mask reminiscent of the foreign patrones of the rich copper mines of Corocoro, and its costume embroidered with indigenous motifs—has in recent years expanded to neighboring municipalities and departments, and even to foreign countries.

In his speech, the alcalde [mayor] of Caquiaviri, Froilán Mamani, indicated that the presence of dancers in Caquiaviri allows them to claim to be the birthplace of the Ch'uta. In this regard, I must express my opposition to said concept; if this were true, the participation of morenada dancers in the festivals of Gran Poder, Guaqui, and other localities would allow them to claim that they are the birthplace of the morenada, to the detriment of the cities of Potosí, Oruro, and Taraco, which present historical and documentary evidence allowing them to affirm that they are the birthplace of the morenada.

Likewise, the parish priest Mateo Ramos, in his address, explained the miracles attributed to San Antonio Abad, omitting a detail recorded in academic research on Caquiaviri, which indicates that this effigy was allegedly stolen from the town of Khula Marka, whose inhabitants, faced with the abuse of the priest, chose to murder him. As punishment, other towns took objects from the local church; the testimony of Don Alejandro Colmena is explicit: “(...) they chose to destroy the church and other buildings of Khula Marka, each town taking the saints or statues to different places. The town of Ajxawiri Marka took the saint San Antonio …”. Similarly, the parish priest avoided commenting on the rebellious nature of the Ch'uta, a challenger of priests and patrones—patrones who were insulted in a falsetto voice and in Aimara during the Carnaval festivities in Corocoro.

Another aspect that causes surprise is that at said public event, Caquiaviri presented no old photographs, antique Ch'uta costumes, or other historical backing to claim any historical connection to the Ch'uta.

In this regard, I reviewed and analyzed books written by Alfredo Guillen Pinto and Natty Peñaranda, associated with education in Caquiaviri, and Roberto Choque Canqui, a prominent Aymara historian; these individuals did not publish any paragraph regarding historical references associating the Ch'uta and Caquiaviri.

COROCORO, ORIGIN AND BIRTHPLACE OF THE DANCE, COSTUME, AND MASK OF THE CH'UTA

On this subject, Corocoro possesses all the historical, documentary, photographic, and testimonial evidence published in libraries, on the internet, and on social media; these allow us to assert that the dance, costume, and mask of the Ch’uta originated in said mining city in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, due to copper exploitation and the presence of foreign businessmen, mine workers, and indigenous people—the latter two being wage earners—and this cultural symbiosis gave rise to the Ch'uta in Corocoro.

This origin was recognized by the prominent intellectual Don Antonio Paredes Candia (La Paz, 1923 - 2004), in his book “Fiestas Populares de Bolivia” in the eighth chapter titled “Danzas y disfraces tradicionales”, from July 1955; he writes, and we transcribe the verbatim quote: "El Chuta: Favorite costume of the individual of the working class, as traditional as the pepino, though it is noticeably disappearing in recent years. It is also known by the names of aljeris and corocoreños".

Likewise, there is an abundant collection of photographs from the early twentieth century showing the antiquity of the Ch'uta of Corocoro, photographs that have been analyzed with scientific historical rigor, which reinforce that Corocoro is the origin and birthplace of the Ch'uta.

Colección Ríos Bernal - Corocoro (1938-1945). Fuente: El Click - Corocoro.  

All this evidence contributes to the documentation for the nomination of Corocoro, origin and birthplace of the dance, costume, and mask of the Ch'uta, as tangible and intangible heritage before the Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO).

In closing, we invite the inhabitants of the municipalities neighboring Corocoro, departments of Bolivia, and foreign countries where the Ch'uta is danced to respect its origin; we also thank them for disseminating the Ch'uta of Corocoro and ask them to state a historical truth: Corocoro is the origin and birthplace of the dance, costume, and mask of the Ch'uta.

Consulted Bibliography:

Comité de Defensa del Patrimonio Cultural e Histórico de Corocoro. (2025, January 11). Dossier informativo: Corocoro, cuna y origen del traje, la máscara y la danza del Ch’uta. https://corocoro-la-paz-bolivia.blogspot.com/2026/06/dossier-informativo-corocoro-cuna-y.html

Durán, M. (2025, January 16). Caquiaviri: Ni cuna ni origen del chuta [Blog post]. Blogger. https://corocoro-la-paz-bolivia.blogspot.com/2025/01/caquiaviri-ni-cuna-ni-origen-del-chuta.html

Paredes Candia, Antonio (1976). Fiestas populares de Bolivia. Librería-Editorial Popular.

Facebook page of Mr. Froilan Mamani https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CNBaVJqNr/

Municipio Indígena Originario Aymara Jesús de Machaca. (2009). Depósito legal 4-1-944-09 [Institutional document]. Edited by CEBEM, compiled by Daniel Viadez and José Blanes. Retrieved from https://cebem.org/biblioteca/uploads/files/6508fdbb1049a6.69978055.pdf

(*) The author spent part of his childhood in Corocoro; he is currently a member of the  Center for Social Studies and Research “Yolanda Chuquimia” (CEISYCh) and the Committee for the Defense of Corocoro’s Cultural and Historical Heritage.

Note: This translation was generated using Gemini AI; the original Spanish version can be found at this link.