First illiteracy-free department in Bolivia

ORURO, Bolivia (PL).— President Evo Morales announced this Thursday that Oruro is the first Bolivian department to be free of illiteracy, a goal that it is hoped to achieve on a national level before the end of this year.

According to Ministry of Education officials and cultural authorities, in this – predominantly mining – area, just over 32,500 people aged 15 years and over have learned to read and write thanks to the Cuban "Yes I Can Do It!" audiovisual method and the cooperation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

According to Rafael Dausá, the Cuban ambassador in Bolivia, 85% of those who have acquired literacy skills in Oruro are women, indicating that this sector of the population has historically been marginalized and it is only now that they are benefiting from this important measure.

The diplomat also recalled that the main municipality in this central department is now free of this social problem, becoming the 121st of the 327 departments in this Andean nation.

Dausá also described literacy skills as a path towards a greater understanding and conscious support for the process of changes that the current head of state is promoting.

Javier Labrada, national coordinator of the Cuban advisors of this program, explained that to date other departments are in the vanguard of developing this program, including La Paz, Cochabamba, Pando and Santa Cruz.

"We hope that in November 2008, we can raise the white flag on a national level, a symbol that Bolivia has been declared an Illiteracy-Free Territory, becoming, after Cuba and Venezuela, the third country in Latin America to achieve this feat, he affirmed.