“The Slow and Gradual Disappearance of the Indigenous Race”

In 1900, the political capital shifted from Sucre to La Paz, Liberals finally emerged triumphant on the political scene, and hopes of imminent transformation buoyed the outlook of modernizing elites. The 1900 census, issued by the National Offce on Immigration, Statistics, and Geographical Propaganda, interpreted demographic trends along social-Darwinist lines and anticipated the gradual disappearance of the native population as a sign of progress for the Bolivian nation.