Right-Wing Youth as Resistance in Bolivia: Political Violence Across Historical Contexts

This paper compares two cases of extreme right-wing juvenile gangs in Bolivia to reconsider how resistance is conceptualized within Resistance Studies, particularly when it emerges from the political right in support of authoritarian projects or in opposition to leftist and populist agendas. The Marqueses gang, active during the 1970s, supported the military dictatorship by operating as a paramilitary force and instilling fear among residents of La Paz, particularly university students. Similarly, the Resistencia Juvenil Cochala (RJC), a youth organization based in Cochabamba, emerged during the 2019 political upheaval and engaged in acts of violence, including attacks against Indigenous protesters aligned with Evo Morales and the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) party. Despite operating in distinct historical contexts, both groups exhibit strikingly similar social, ideological, and organizational characteristics. The comparison further shows that contemporary far-right mobilization in Bolivia is not an anomaly but part of a longer historical trajectory shaped by class position, anti-leftist ideology, and selective invocations of nationalism and order. Drawing on interviews, media reports, and secondary literature, the paper demonstrates that both groups were composed primarily of young men from middle- and upper-middle-class backgrounds who expressed strong commitments to right-wing political ideals and explicit opposition to leftist parties, social movements, and state institutions associated with popular and Indigenous politics. In both cases, motorcycles served not only as tools of mobility but also as symbolic resources facilitating coordinated violence, intimidation, and territorial control, which participants framed as legitimate forms of resistance against perceived leftist threats. Although youth are often seen as agents of progressive change, they can also act as shock troops for authoritarian and exclusionary political projects, especially during periods of regime instability. This analysis demonstrates that resistance is not a fixed moral category but a contested political practice that may be mobilized in defense of authoritarianism as well as against it. By placing these cases in dialogue, the paper also argues that small, youth-based right-wing groups can exert a disproportionate political influence during moments of crisis, contributing to broader processes of destabilization, repression, and regime change. Importantly, this analysis draws attention to the limitations of dominant Western epistemologies within Resistance Studies, which often equate resistance primarily with emancipatory struggles against racism, colonial legacies, patriarchy, and state violence. While such perspectives remain essential, they can obscure the ways in which right-wing actors, particularly in the Global South, also mobilize the language, practices, and moral claims of resistance.