The seven plagues of the Bolivian Chaco (1850-1920)

Isabelle Combès

doi:10.46553/978-950-44-0123-0

The seven plagues of the Bolivian Chaco (1850-1920)

Authors

Isabelle Combès

Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos. Bolivia

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0620-8913

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46553/978-950-44-0123-0

Keywords:

Bolivian Chaco, plagues, evangelization, missions

Synopsis

The Seven Plagues of the Bolivian Chaco (1850-1920). Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Bolivian Chaco experienced droughts, famines, epidemics, and other calamities. The social history of these plagues not only highlights their impact on indigenous communities, Creoles, and Franciscan missions but also reveals cultural differences in how each group responded to them, and how these differing approaches influenced the process of evangelization. The study ultimately exposes the role of colonization in the spread of these plagues, challenging the notion that they were purely “natural” disasters.