Tupac Katari
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Image:Wiphala of the Tupac Katari.png Tupac Katari (c. 1750 – 15 November 1781), born Julián Apasa, was the leader of a rebellion of indigenous people in Bolivia.
In Chayanta, kuraka Tomás Katari led a movement against local Spanish authorities and was imprisoned. When a group of supporters attempted his rescue, his captors killed him, unleashing a full-scale rebellion. During the same period, a member of the Aymara people, Julián Apaza, took the name Túpac Katari and raised an army of some 40,000. He laid siege to the city of La Paz on two occasions in 1781. The first siege of La Paz was broken by colonial troops.
Túpac Amaru joined Túpac Katari in a second siege of La Paz, but promises of amnesty and internal dissension gradually dispersed their followers. The joint efforts of the colonial army and loyal kurakas managed to crush the uprising. Rebel leaders were imprisoned and executed, and the properties of rebel kurakas were confiscated.
Despite his subsequent betrayal, defeat, torture, and execution (torn by his extremities into four pieces), he is remembered as a hero by modern indigenous movements in Bolivia, who call themselves kataristas. A Bolivian guerrilla group, the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army, also bears his name.
See also
External links
- tupackatari.org: Bolivian indigenous activist page (in Spanish)
- Boston Globe article on Bolivian politics, mentioning Tupac Katari.es:Túpac Katari