María Nela Prada Tejada (born 24 January 1980) is a Bolivian diplomat and politician serving as the minister of the presidency since 2020. A member of the

Movement for Socialism Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (; MAS or MAS-IPSP), is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as ''Masistas''. In the 2005 Bolivian general election, December 2005 el ...

, she served as chief of staff under

Luis Arce Luis Alberto Arce Catacora (; born 28 September 1963), often referred to as Lucho, is a Bolivian banker, economist, and politician serving as the 67th president of Bolivia since 2020. A member of the Movement for Socialism (Bolivia), Movement fo ...

during his tenure as minister of economy from 2006 to 2017 and in 2019.

Biography

María Nela Prada was born on 24 January 1981 in

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

to Ramón Prada and Betty Tejada. Her father served as prefect of Santa Cruz from 1999 to 2001, appointed by President

Hugo Banzer Hugo Banzer Suárez (; 10 May 1926 – 5 May 2002) was a Bolivian politician and military officer who served as the 51st president of Bolivia. He held the Bolivian presidency twice: from 1971 to 1978 as a military dictator; and then again ...

. Prada's mother, Betty Tejada, served as president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2013 to 2014. Due to familial links, the family was historically related to Banzer's right-wing

Nationalist Democratic Action Nationalist Democratic Action () is a right-wing political party in Bolivia led by Óscar Daza Márquez. ADN was founded on March 23, 1979 by the military dictator Hugo Banzer after he stepped down from power. As leader of the ADN, Banzer ran ...

party —Ramón was the nephew of Banzer's wife, Yolanda Prada. However, by 2005, Prada and her mother had aligned themselves with the

(MAS-IPSP) —which came to power the following year— as a result of the social movements spearheaded by the MAS at the time. Prada recalls that, though she and her father "did not share the same political path ��he taught me to respect those differences". Prada graduated from university with a degree in international relations and went on to receive a master's degree in State planning and economics. Additionally, she is fluent in three languages. Prada's economics experience led her to accompany

as his

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

during his decade-long tenure as minister of economy in the government of Evo Morales. Additionally, in 2011, she served as director of the Bolivian Port Services Administration (ASPB).

Minister of the Presidency

Upon becoming president, Arce appointed Prada as his minister of the presidency on 9 November 2020. She is the first woman to have held the position. After being sworn in, Prada delivered a speech on behalf of the new ministerial cabinet, in which she advocated for reconciliation and stated that "differences must be accepted" between supporters and opponents of Arce's government. In 2022, she was designated as the head of the Rape and Femicide Case Review Commission, formed by the president to investigate cases of corruption by judges in favor of convicts charged with

femicide Femicide or feminicide is the intentional murder of women or girls because of their gender.Shalva Weil, "Femicide Across Europe: Research and prevention of femicide across Europe". Research Gate, October 2018. In domestic fields, 50% percent o ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prada, María Nela 1981 births Living people 21st-century Bolivian politicians 21st-century Bolivian women politicians Luis Arce administration cabinet members Movimiento al Socialismo politicians People from Santa Cruz de la Sierra Presidency ministers of Bolivia Women government ministers of Bolivia