BOLIVIA'S TWO CAPITAL CITIES

In 1825, when Bolivia gained its independence, it was founded as a Republic in the city of Sucre, in the central department (state) of Chuquisaca, and Sucre was established as Bolivia’s capital city.

During this time, silver and tin mining were the country’s largest industries. Tin and silver were being mined in Potosí, west of Sucre. A great number of silver mine owners lived in Sucre and many of the tin mining families lived in La Paz, near which other tin mines were also being run. Silver had already been mined for several centuries. Tin was a newer industry and 70 years later, had surpassed silver mining in terms of income generation for the country.

Bolivia experienced a lot of upheaval during its first decades as a sovereign nation. In 1899 Bolivia’s Liberal Party and Conservative Party clashed in a struggle for political power. Sucre’s silver owners and large landowners supported the conservatives. Tin mine owners threw their support behind the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party overthrew the Conservative party and immediately put in a bid to move the country’s seat of government to La Paz.

In the end, an agreement was reached. La Paz became the seat of the Bolivian government’s executive and legislative branches and the judicial branch remained in Sucre. That’s why today Sucre is often called Bolivia’s constitutional capital and La Paz is called the administrative (and sometimes the de facto) capital.

However, if you read Bolivia’s constitution you’ll see the only one listed is Sucre and if you ask Bolivia’s which city it is, most say the same. La Paz is considered simply the seat of two branches of Bolivia’s government, although Paceños will probably not agree.

Since 2005, there has been a movement to return all three branches of government to Sucre. There have even been several violent confrontations and protests regarding this matter over the past few years. Since Evo Morales became president in 2005 the country’s West and East have been ideologically divided and the citizens of Sucre (known as Sucrenses) proposed reinstating Sucre (which is located in Bolivia’s geographic center and has fewer than 300,000 residents) as Bolivia’s capital in order to provide some balance. This would also do much for Sucre’s economy.

In September of 2008 thousands of Sucrenses participated in protests and manifestations. Residents of La Paz (known as Paceños) are far greater in number (nearly 2 million including the satellite city of El Alto) and don’t want their economy to suffer, because the government itself is a major source of employment in their region.

President Evo Morales and his political party the M.A.S. (Movimiento al Socialismo - Movement Toward Socialism) drafted a new Bolivian constitution amid much protest and violence throughout most of 2008. The text for this new constitution still states, in the very first article, “Sucre is the capital city of Bolivia”. However, Sucre’s bid to actually move all government branches back to Sucre was recently denied during congressional debates and negotiations on President Morales’ new constitution. Sucrenses campaigninged heavily to vote against it.

2009 UPDATE: The New Bolivian Constitution, proposed by President Evo Morales, was approved by a narrow margin of just over 50%. Sucre remains the capital of Bolivia and La Paz the seat of government. The new constitution was approved by 4 of Bolivia's states (the Western half of the country) and not approved by 5 of Bolivia's states (the entire Eastern half of the country). Even though more states voted against it than for it, it passed because there are more voters in the West. (The west is more densely populated).

Sucre Photo Gallery
La Paz Photo Gallery

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