Bolivia P249 (1) B418a 20 Bolivianos 2019-25 UNC—Cayman—Alligator Fam

A visually striking Bolivian note honoring three heroes of indigenous and colonial resistance — Genoveva Ríos, Tomás Katari, and Pedro Ignacio Muiba — alongside the pre-Columbian fortress of Samaypata and, on the reverse, one of the Amazon’s most dramatic animals: the black caiman.

Front

• Color: Orange and gold on multicolor
• Portraits: Genoveva Ríos, Tomás Katari, and Pedro Ignacio Muiba at right
• Samaypata Fortress: Fuerte de Samaypata at center
• Security strip: Windowed strip showing Genoveva Ríos image and number “20”
• Signatures: President a.i. BCB and General Manager a.i. BCB (varies by variety — see below)

Back

• Color: Red border on multicolor
• Black caiman: Black caiman on the shore of Laguna Bay
• Toborochi tree: Toborochi (floss silk tree) — Bolivia’s national tree
• Printer: Oberthur Fiduciaire (Series A) / Crane Currency, Malta (Series B)

Other Characteristics

• Varieties: 
  • this note: P249(1) TBB B418a (2019) — signatures Pablo Ramos Sánchez & Carlos Alberto Colodro López; printed by Oberthur Fiduciaire; 
  • TBB B418a (2024) — signatures Roger Edwin Rojas Ulo & Rubén Gonzalo Ticona Chique; printed by Oberthur Fiduciaire; not this listing
  • TBB B418b (2025) — Series B; Crane Currency, Malta; improved security strip and intaglio reverse; in printing process; not this listing
• Catalog numbers: P249(1); TBB B418a; Numista N#210038
• Watermark: Pixelated flag, Genoveva Ríos, and electrotype 20
• Composition: Paper
• Size: 140 × 69 mm
• Issuing entity: Central Bank of Bolivia (Banco Central de Bolivia)
• Printer: Oberthur Fiduciaire, France (Series A); Crane Currency, Malta (Series B)
• Demonetized: No — current legal tender
• Currency: Second boliviano (1986–date)

Genoveva Ríos: The Woman Who Held the Line

Genoveva Ríos was a Bolivian heroine of the War of the Pacific (1879–1884), the devastating conflict in which Bolivia lost its coastal territory to Chile — a wound that still defines Bolivian national identity today. During the siege of Calama in March 1879, she reportedly aided the Bolivian defenders, becoming a symbol of civilian courage in the face of military defeat. She is one of the few women to appear on Bolivian currency, and her presence on this note — alongside two indigenous male leaders — reflects Bolivia’s ongoing effort to honor the full breadth of its resistance history. Bolivia has been landlocked since losing the War of the Pacific, and the dream of recovering sea access remains a live political issue to this day.

Tomás Katari: The Andean Rebel Who Walked to Buenos Aires

Tomás Katari (died 1781) was a Quechua leader from Chayanta (in present-day Bolivia) who led one of the most significant indigenous uprisings against Spanish colonial rule in the 18th century. His rebellion was part of the broader wave of Andean resistance that included the famous Túpac Amaru II uprising in Peru. What makes Katari’s story remarkable is how it began: he walked thousands of kilometers to Buenos Aires to petition the colonial authorities for justice for his community — and was initially granted it. When the local authorities ignored the ruling, he organized armed resistance. He was captured and killed in 1781, thrown off a cliff, but his rebellion continued under his brothers and became a foundational moment in Bolivian indigenous consciousness.

Pedro Ignacio Muiba: The Moxos Chief Who Chose Freedom

Pedro Ignacio Muiba (c. 1795) was a leader of the Moxos people of the Bolivian Amazon who led an uprising against Spanish colonial rule in the Beni region. He is considered one of the earliest indigenous independence fighters in what would become Bolivia, predating the formal independence movement by decades. His rebellion was suppressed and he was executed, but he is remembered as a proto-independence hero — a man who fought for his people’s freedom before the concept of a Bolivian nation even existed. His inclusion on this note alongside Katari and Ríos reflects the Plurinational State of Bolivia’s constitutional commitment to recognizing its 36 officially recognized indigenous nations.

Samaypata: The Fortress at the Edge of Two Worlds

The Fuerte de Samaypata on the center of the obverse is one of the most enigmatic pre-Columbian sites in South America. Carved directly into a massive sandstone rock at an altitude of 1,950 meters in the foothills of the Andes, it features an extraordinary array of channels, niches, pools, and carved felines that served as a ceremonial center for the Chane and later Inca peoples. The Incas incorporated it into their empire in the late 15th century, making it the easternmost significant Inca site — the frontier between the Andean world and the Amazon lowlands. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The name Samaypata means “rest place in the heights” in Quechua.

The Black Caiman: King of the Amazon

The black caiman (Melanosuchus niger) on the reverse is the largest predator in the Amazon basin — reaching up to 6 meters in length and weighing over 400 kg. Once hunted nearly to extinction for its skin, it has recovered significantly since protections were introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. Bolivia’s Laguna Bay in the Beni department is part of the Bolivian Amazon, one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth. The toborochi tree (Ceiba speciosa) alongside it is Bolivia’s national tree — a flowering giant of the tropical lowlands whose swollen trunk stores water and whose pink blossoms are among the most spectacular in South America. In Guaraní legend, the toborochi sheltered a goddess who hid inside its trunk to protect her unborn child.

About Bolivia

• Origin of name: Named after Simón Bolívar, the Venezuelan general who liberated much of South America from Spanish rule; Bolivia declared independence in 1825
• Capital: Sucre (constitutional capital) and La Paz (seat of government) — one of the few countries with two capitals
  • Origin of name (Sucre): Named after Antonio José de Sucre, the general who won Bolivia’s decisive independence battle at Ayacucho in 1824
• Population: ~12.3 million (UN 2023) — similar to Pennsylvania or Belgium
• Area: 1,098,581 km² (424,164 mi²) — similar to Texas and California combined, or France and Spain combined
• GDP per capita (PPP): ~$10,500 (IMF 2024)
• Main exports: Natural gas, zinc, gold, silver, soybeans, quinoa, lithium
• Borders: Peru and Chile (west); Argentina and Paraguay (south); Brazil (north and east) — landlocked since 1884
• Official/spoken languages: Spanish plus 36 indigenous languages including Quechua, Aymara, and Guaraní — all constitutionally recognized
• Ethnicities: Indigenous (~41%); Mestizo (~31%); White (~15%); others
• Memberships: United Nations (1945); OAS; CELAC; UNASUR
• Sovereignty: Part of the Inca Empire until Spanish conquest (1530s); colonial rule as Upper Peru until independence declared August 6, 1825; renamed Plurinational State of Bolivia under the 2009 constitution

Bolivia Unfiltered

• Landlocked and bitter about it: Bolivia lost its Pacific coastline to Chile in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) and has been landlocked ever since; it maintains a navy on Lake Titicaca and the Amazon river system, and “Day of the Sea” is a national holiday of mourning
• Lithium superpower: Bolivia sits atop the world’s largest lithium reserves — beneath the Salar de Uyuni salt flat — making it a pivotal player in the global electric vehicle revolution
• Highest capital city: La Paz, at ~3,650 meters above sea level, is the highest seat of government in the world; visitors often experience altitude sickness just walking from the airport
• 36 official languages: Bolivia’s 2009 constitution recognizes 36 indigenous languages alongside Spanish — the most of any country in the world
• Coup capital: Bolivia has experienced over 190 coups or coup attempts since independence in 1825 — more than any other country in the world
• Salar de Uyuni: The world’s largest salt flat (10,582 km²) is so flat and reflective that it is used to calibrate satellites; during the rainy season, a thin layer of water turns it into the world’s largest mirror

Own this note and hold three centuries of Bolivian resistance in your hands — an indigenous rebel who walked to Buenos Aires for justice, a Moxos chief who chose death over submission, a woman who held the line at Calama, and a black caiman watching over it all from the Amazon shore. A 20-boliviano note that carries more history than its face value suggests.