Entre barracas y tragedias Rosa Oporto en la Amazonía boliviana (1892-1894)

In the Amazon basin, the rubber industry reached its peak between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, transforming the jungle landscape of countries such as Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador. In Bolivia, this transformation was driven by technological, legislative, and political innovations, also by immigration policies that supplied labor to this extractive industry. Among the many accounts written by travelers, priests, politicians, and naturalists of the period, the journalisticreports of Rosa Oporto, a young woman from the La Paz bourgeoisie, offer us a unique perspective: during almost two years of travel through the jungle, she traveled the Amazonian rivers, experienced a tragic shipwreck in the rapids, and even suffered the death of her brother. Nevertheless, she managed to report her unique experience, and her testimony offers us a rare feminine glimpse into the rubber boom era.