This article was translated by Mikel Martín
We have talked about issues related with Bolivia several times in this blog. We have even talked about a book by Aitor Iraegui, in which the presence of the Basque in this South American country is mentioned.
In this case, our protagonist is Xavier Albo, a jesuit born in Cataluña with a Bolivian nationality.
Evo Morales, the current president of Bolivia, has just given him and the priest Mauricio Bacardit the maximum recognition awarded by Bolivia: “Cóndor de los Andes” (Condor of The Andes) in the knight degree. This is a recognition to acknowledge his commitment and support in the fight for the preservation of the aboriginals’ rights.
The president Morales pointed out that with this award they are trying to demonstrate “Our recognition to so many fathers that accompanied us. These fathers like Albo and Bacardit, formed us to set us free, not to make us silent.”, showing that due to their lessons, now all the isolated sectors came together to form a Government of the Town.
This recognition of the priests that showed the people “not to be silent” turns out to be very interesting, because after the delivery of the award, Xavier Albo used the same principle and recommended the president not to present as a candidate for the re-elections.
Furthermore, Xavier proposed to add two more principles to the Andean Trilogy, supported by Evo Morales’ government, and said that he wanted it to be the guide for the Bolivian government and society. These trilogy is formed by the following principles: ama sua (Don’t be a thief), ama llulla (Don’t be a lier) and ama ghella (Don’t be weak). Albo proposes to include two more: ama llunk’u (Don’t be slavish or servile) and ama ch’inlla (Don’t be silent). During his intervention, the jesuit priest ask president Morales “to rest” and not to present to the presidency of 2019, giving opportunities to people from his political party.
Our readers might be wondering why we talk about this event whose protagonists are the Bolivian president and priest from Cataluña.
A reason could be that some of the priest that were being honored through Albo and Bacardit, are Basque. However, there’s a more important reason: Father Xavier Albo went to this event wearing a traditional “Txapela” with Bilbao’s badge. And this, as you will comprehend, has caught our attention.
Here we leave you a couple of quotes about the event from the Bolivian press.
Pagina 7 – 6/4/2016 – Bolivia
Xavier Albó a Evo: “Tú puedes descansar el 2019 y luego volver”
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Los Tiempos – 5/4/2016 – Bolivia
Albó sugiere ama llunk’u (“no seas adulón”) y ama ch’in (“no te calles”) como nuevos principios
El padre, Xavier Albó, tras recibir la condecoración del Cóndor de los Andes, de manos del presidente Evo Morales, se autodefinió como un librepensante y que no renunciará nunca a esta calidad; sugirió que se sumen dos principios a los que ya existen en la Constitución Política del Estado: el “ama llunk’u” (no seas adulón) y el “ama ch’in” (no callar).
(Continue) (Automatic translation)
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
 medal by the Bolivian Government as he was wearing a “Txapela” with Bilbao's badge.){kind=link}