Summary of The City of Totora
By Gral. Oscar Escobar
Quiroga
A devastating earthquake of magnitude 5.8 on the Richter
scale rocked the City of Totora, capital of the province of
Carrasco in the Department of Cochabamba, on May 22,
1998. Approximately 3000 aftershocks were
recorded after that violent quake.
The damage caused by this natural disaster, added
to the existing damage to the city infrastructure due to
abandonment and lack of maintenance, puts at grave
risk the loss of an almost intact urban area that preserved
the colonial architecture of the Republic of Bolivia.
Experts evaluating the damage suggest that the structures
did not collapse because they were constructed of
adobe blocks of greater size in comparison to present day
construction, and beams made of wood of the Quina Quina that
has extraordinary hardness and resistance.
The reconstruction aid received to date was minimal;
about 100 new small houses with a modern look were
completed; these looked different from the old houses, and
consequently were not in harmony with the colonial
architecture.
To date nothing has been done to recover the main
construction with the exception of the Cultural Center
(previously the Mayor's Office) and the Church. The
Church is being completed by the effort and the good will of
a group of proud Totorenos who were born and raised in this
beautiful city.
Very little attention was paid to owners with scarce
economic resources. The promises of economic
support for small homeowners have so far not been
fulfilled.
During the present year the city of Totora was declared
CULTURAL PATRIMONY OF the NATION; nevertheless, the benefits
that this declaration implies is not readily seen by the
public.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
Totora
is the capital of the Province of Carrasco,
located in the Department of Cochabamba, in the center of
South America. An asphalt road of length 140 kms
through a pleasant and changing landscape connects it to the
City of Cochabamba. The city of Totora is close
to the tourist centers of Inca Llajta, Pocona and Sihuenkha
National Park.
Because of the topography of the
cordillera and valley, the province has two different
geographic and climatic regions: the one of mountain
range and the other of level tropical land. The Summer
temperature varies between 15 and 22 degrees Celsius,
and the Winter temperature varies between 10 and 18 degrees
Celsius.
CAUSES OF ITS
DEVELOPMENT
The
city owes its development to the following factors:
1. - PRODUCTION OF COCA
LEAF
Coca
leaf was produced in the yungas of Totora prior to the
time of the Incas; the area was populated by members of the
YURACARES ethnic group. The Incas explored the land
originally, but the Spaniards explored it more extensively.
The Spaniards supplied coca leaves to the silver and gold
mines of Potosi to keep the indigenous people working
harder for longer hours. This was the era in which the city
of Totora started blossoming.
After Bolivia gained its
independence and became a Republic, the discovery of
minerals like Tin, Lead, Copper, and other metals increased
the population for the operating the mines, and consequently
increased the demand for coca leaves. This time the
miners were working in more humane conditions.
2. -
AGRICULTURE
The zone of the Totora
Valley was and is one of the zones that produces potatoes,
wheat and barley. The landowners and the coca
growers living in the city of Totora, had links with
Europe where they sent their children to study. It is
said that the architecture, especially along the main plaza
of Totora, is an exact copy of a small city in France.
3. - TRANSPORTATION
Totora was a central hub
between the cities of Cochabamba, Sucre
and Santa Cruz. The movement among these cities
gave economic opportunities to many people engaged in
the commerce, hotels, restaurants and transportation related
industries.
4. - COMMERCIAL
INTERCHANGE
As a geographical hub,
the road network converged upon Totora as a center of
commercial interchange of products of the Bolivian tropics
(cattle, horses, mules, molasses, rice, sugar, and fruit)
and products of the West or valleys (salt, wheat, maize,
medicines etc.) This interchange gave the city an important
entry in the economic field in form of taxes and the
inhabitants being the agents of exchange.
5. - LOCAL
PRODUCT COMMERCIALIZATION
A great fair occurred
weekly in the city of Totora to trade commercial
products from approximately 50 kms. From the
local area, and the products of the Tropics, the Valley and
yungas gave rise to interesting income to the
municipality and inhabitants of Totora.
6. - CAUSES OF DECAY
We can speculate on the
factors that caused the city of Totora to almost
become a ghost town:
A) - The
Reforma Agraria (Land Reform) forced landowners
to flee from productive lands of the CARRASCO VALLEY.
B) - Deflection of
the old highway to Santa Cruz by Epizana-Siberia road
link curtailed important economic activity, and reduced
the income of the people engaged in the
commercial, hotel, and lodging industries, to the
extent that they were forced to emigrate.
7. - ELIMINATION OF
AGRICULTURAL FAIRS
The Land Reform, and the
diversion of the highway caused farmers to create their own
fairs off the main road. This reduced an
important source of income to Totora. Currently,
residents of the city go to the local rural fairs.
8. - CONSTRUCTION OF
HIGHWAY COCHABAMBA SANTA CRUZ
The new highway through
the Cochabamba Tropics (Villa Tunari, Chimore,
Bulo Bulo, etc.) isolated Totora from commercial and
economic activity, and had a devastating effect. Some
producers of coca leaf in the yungas relocated to Chapare to
take advantage of the 2 - 3 hours from Cochabamba compared
to 2-3 day long walk from Totora. The illegal drug
traffic in cocaine caused a further loss of prestige.
The yungas of Totora were deserted, and over a period
of ten years were declared Forest National Parks that
prohibited new agricultural development.
WrittenbyOscar;
TranslatedBabelWebmaster;
SpanishAuthoratative
