April 25, 2024, 4:00 AM
April 25, 2024, 4:00 AM
On February 27 of this year I published an article in El Deber titled Ñuflo de Chaves, Mamerto Urriolagoitia and the Green Hell. To celebrate the 463 years of the founding of our city, the History Museum decided to present the film Across Bolivia, which testifies to the expedition led by Mamerto Urriolagoitia in 1928, which followed the route of Ñuflo de Chaves. The main objective of the publication of the article was to promote the presentation of the documentary and of course contextualize it.
On April 21, Correo del Sur published an article by the MSc lawyer. Roberto Ossio Ortubé, who considers that I claim “a first”, “a miraculous discovery” and that I seek public recognition. Surely that lawyer does not know me and even less does he know my historical research work. However, he accuses me of being a plagiarist and of not having cited his book. Book that I actually read, but that did not give me any new information that I had not read in other sources.
My research on Mamerto Urriolagoitia’s trip focused on the Historical Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in La Paz. There I reviewed the documentation from the Bolivian legation in London and since the lawyer wants appointments, he can review: BO-MRE-A and BI, LEG 1-A. 3-13-1686 and for more information, the letter from Carlos Aramayo to Minister Abel Iturralde. As recorded in that file, I investigated those funds in January 2020.
I have been a member of the Society of Geographic and Historical Studies of Santa Cruz since 1991, and I was not fortunate enough to have been invited to the presentation of the MSc book. Ossio, which he carried out in that centenary institution. I was also not invited to Dr. Alvaro Carranza’s conference.
Given the grievances and slander that the lawyer has foisted on me, I must clarify the following:
Corina Moreno de Harriague, Mamerto Urriolagoitia’s maternal grandmother was the sister of Gabriel René Moreno, it is public knowledge. Just for reference, Don Gunnar Mendoza, distinguished director of the ANBN, says it in a publication from 1951. The quote: Mendoza L., Gunnar, “Gabriel René-Moreno, Bolivian bibliographer”, University of San Francisco Xavier, t. XVI, nos. 39-40 (July-Dec.), pp. 553-613, 1951. The reference is on page 574, n. 105
The Green Hell Book was published in Spanish in 2011, by Ediciones del Viento, with the translation by Javier Bueno. The book has been available for 13 years and at a very affordable price.
The documentary Across Bolivia, available on the internet. In 1986, Santa Cruz historian Hernando Sanabria stated that the first film filmed in Santa Cruz was the one that Mamerto Urriolagoitia ordered to be made. Sanabria calls it “From the plains to the summit.” The quote: Sanabria, Carmen Elena (1992), “Notes for a history of cinema in Santa Cruz”, Camba Magazine N°2 pp. 28-33. The link to watch the movie:
The portrait of Ñuflo de Chaves to which I refer is not the one owned by the Municipal Government of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, which was given to him by Gabriel René and Arístides Moreno, in 1899. Gabriel René Moreno, in 1907, writes about the donation of the picture and publishes the letter of October 8, 1899 that he had sent to the municipality. The quote: Rene-Moreno, Gabriel (1907) “A newspaper in Santa Cruz”, Bolivia and Peru. New historical and bibliographic notes, Soc. Imp. Lit. Universo, pp.403-410.
The portrait I am referring to is owned by the distinguished writer Manfredo Kempff Suárez, who was kind enough to give me a photo, which was published with the article. The portrait has a certificate that says: “This engraving was acquired by the young diplomat Mamerto Urriolagoitia in Madrid in 1925 and was part of a set of portraits of the Spanish conquistadors.”
Finally, nowhere in my article do I say that I discovered anything. There are no bibliographic references or historical archives because it is a newspaper article. I do not take credit for anything from anyone, I carry out my research in archives and of course I read and quote those who have previously investigated the topics I work on.
With the MSc. Ossio, we could have exchanged documentary information. In the Santa Cruz archives there are many references about the businesses of the Urriolagoitia family in this city and about the life of the Harriague Moreno couple. His grievances and slander are unfounded and disproportionate, I take them from whoever they come from.
