Amalia Pando Vega is a renowned Bolivian journalist. She worked in many local news stations, both television (TV) and radio: Red PAT, Televisión Boliviana, Radio Televisión Popular (RTP), Cadena A, Radio Fides, Radio Erbol, Nueva América, Cristal and many more.

In 1990 accompanied by several journalists, among them the former president of Bolivia, Carlos Mesa – who was also a wellknown journalist-, she founded the national TV network Red PAT that stands for Periodistas Asociados Televisión or Asociated Jounalists TV in English. This was the first project of independent journalism on television owned by colleges and friends that became an alternative to what was normally broadcasted. She was later fired when Carlos D. Mesa became Vice President in 2002.

In 2015, the Ministry of Decolonization in La Paz Bolivia accused her of broadcasting racist comments during an interview when a coronel from Spain insulted a presidential delegate. They started a prosecution against her and Radio Erbol -radio station where her show was aired- for not stopping the interview and allowing those comments. She welcomed the procedure during her live show stating that she is “anxious to be sued, I want to listen… want to know what allegations they have against me for stimulating racism, something so absurd that sincerely I do not want to give any importance, because it has none”^[1]. She continued to call the procedure something “ridiculous, legally and politically absurd”.

Later that year she quit as a radio hostess accusing the government of economical asphyxiation because of the networks critical line.

She argued that the government suspended their publicity submitting them, and other local media outlets, by reducing or suspending their advertising.

Amalia Pando believes that "independent media is on the verge of bankruptcy" and that "the government doesn’t allow critical journalists to be behind a microphone or write, this is why I vote No " referring to the latest referendum to unconstitutionally reelect Evo Morales for 4 th consecutive term. The director of Radio Erbol, Augusto Peña was forced to accept her resignation even after a civil movement launched a campaign to help collect funds to keep the network radio afloat.

In 2016 she returned to the radio with a new show but was cut off 5 minutes before her broadcast by the ATT (Autoridad de Regulación y Fiscalización de Telecomunicaciones y Transportes or the Authority to Audit and Regulate Telecommunications and Transport) accused of being an illegal transmission. To which she responded, “this is what happens when you hire Amalia Pando” regarding the cut as a warning message from the government because the complaint was made in 2014 which gave her reason to believe there were political motives behind the cut.

She is now back on the radio with her independent show Cabildeo on Radio Líder 97 FM.

Due to her silence on conventional media she has shifted to social media.

Since 2016 she has established herself as an influencer on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and her official Website to inform about different acts of corruption during the last 10 years with Evo Morales as President. During one of her shows, which is regularly streamed on Facebook Live, she said that "it is time to divide the corrupt from the non corrupt. Its that simple. Dividing the parties by left or right is just political. The country is being devoured by corruption".

She studied communication in La Paz, Bolivia in the Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo and continued her studies in Chile to specialize in journalism.

In 1992 she was awarded the Premio Internacional de Periodismo Rey de España for her work on the tv show Policias y ladrones (Cops and thief’s).

Amalia Pando was born in La Paz, Bolivia on August 21, 1953. She is an intimate friend with Carlos Mesa with whom she started many projects together. Amalia has been married many times and has one son.