Following the death of Juan Carlos Pinto Quintanilla
The Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO) mourns the passing of Juan Carlos Pinto Quintanilla, Bolivian sociologist, political educator, tireless guerrilla fighter, comrade, and fellow rebel in the struggle to transform the world. Throughout his political life, Juan Carlos was a member of the EGTK (Kirchnerist Guerrilla Army) and forged his character in prison as a political prisoner. Juanca was a simple, straightforward, humble, and generous comrade whose life's cause was transforming injustices and building a world of equals, a just world. He was currently a member of the CLACSO Working Group "Neighborhoods, Families, and Prisons in Circuits."
In Bolivia's transformation process, he held positions of great importance, not only directing one of the fundamental works of the constituent process, the Encyclopedia of the Constituent Assembly, and later as director of the magazine La Migraña, but also as a leader in the formation process through political schools of thought. Juan Carlos poured his heart and soul into the November 2019 coup d'état. He reflected from the trenches alongside the people and continued to produce a rebellious ideology capable of building revolution. Juan Carlos lived simply, for and with the poor, the most vulnerable, sparing no effort, dedication, or struggle. A revolutionary man has passed away.
CLACSO pays tribute to the life of Juan Carlos Pinto Quintanilla, who sowed hope and the seeds of revolution. Juanca's memory brings us a letter, a legacy he left behind, a story that was part of his life.
POSTHUMOUS LETTER – January 27, 2021
Dear Juanca, my dear friend:
It would seem that destiny manipulates us at will and according to its own logic of commitment, incomprehensible to reason alone.
Neither clandestinity nor prison could create barriers of incommunicability between the people and you, between the poor peasant and the exploited worker, between you and the atheist or Christian beggar, between you and us.
Nor was it a book or an academy that pushed you to the side of the poor and dispossessed, the marginalized and the most needy; to cry out alongside them.
It was not an agreement or a pact of friends that committed you to the armed struggle, to the uprising of the exploited and the liberation of the peoples.
It was not an enemy bullet nor the corrupt and servile state justice that erased the footprints that were left on your path in the mud, the sand or on the wet leaves of the mountain.
It wasn't a biblical commandment that led you to love, respect, and fight for your family, nor was it a Christmas star that marked your horizon and the search for the Jesus of the poor.
It wasn't a poem or a corny song that made you the friend and travel companion of so many, nor was it power that imposed values of friendship on you.
Because you were always the love for your neighbor, the energy of struggle and the hope of our people, and that is praxis and transcendence of life, not learning or teaching, simply Faith and Testimony of Life.
You fought against a state serving the rich to know and live in a plurinational state serving the poor, the exploited, and the people… You triumphed, you always triumphed
You know… my dear friend, it was always difficult to follow in your footsteps, due to the lack of understanding of the immense love you carried within you. Many times we became immersed in the challenges of the immediate reality without the strength of a faith in Christ, the Christ of the poor that marked your smile, optimism, and endless sacrifice.
Buddy… how can we follow in your footsteps without your boots that paved the way and without the sweat that watered the sand, the plant and the earth that gives life.
The Revolution needs you alive, dreams and utopias need you, the comrades, the rebels, those of us who were and built the Red Offensive, formed the Tupak Katari Guerrilla Army, those of us who had hopes and participated in the Constituent Assembly, the Plurinational State, all of us and the new generations need you.
We refuse to see you walk and travel along the paths, trails and fields of the revolution.
You will always live in me, in my family, in those who mourn your passing, the friends who miss you, and the buddies who know that men like you came into this world to stay forever.
Juanca, your family is crying, and we are crying with them.
Farewell, dear brother.
The Grandfather
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