José Maria Korta Lasarte

Biography

Born on February 13, 1929 in San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa (Spain). On January 26, 1950 he joined the Society of Jesus in Loyola. He made his last vows on February 2, 1960. In 1961 he graduated as a Technical Engineer in Barcelona. After working for a while in a factory he was sent to Venezuela. He arrived in the country on November 25, 1962, and worked as a Professor and Prefect of Studies at the Jesús Obrero Technical Institute in Caracas. In 1963 he completed equivalency studies at the UCV to revalidate his degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1965 he wrote several study plans for the Jesús Obrero Institute. In 1971 he was Professor and Director of the Evening Baccalaureate of said Institute, in charge of its Electronics Laboratory, and he was also a Consultant. In 1972, Korta began to make contact with the Pemón and Makiritare peoples. From the very beginning, he was dedicated to the indigenous ethnic groups as a missionary in the Upper Ventuari. Together with the Makiritares, he created the Union Makiritare of the Upper Ventuari (UMAV). In 1973, he settled on the banks of the Upper Ventuari, at the request of the Makiritares, and promoted educational and production projects, living in the indigenous way. In 1976, the Company's permanent assistance plan was established in the Makiritare region. In 1978, Korta prepared a mathematics text in the Yekuana language (Makiritare language). In 1986, the Centre for Education and Promotion of Indigenous Self-Management (CEPAI) was founded, in close collaboration with a team of indigenous promoters. In 1991, he worked at the Ecomunidad Foundation with young volunteers whom he accompanied and trained, as well as in the Kiwxi Amerindian Cause. The Provincial Father Alejandro Goñi, at that time, gave great support to the Ecomunidad project. In 2000 he attended several indigenous assemblies and presented the project for the University School of Indigenous Languages. In 2001 he started the project for the Indigenous University of Tauca where, according to him: “the classrooms are the churuatas, the river, that is to say, our spaces.” This institution would later be inaugurated on November 29, 2011. On October 18, 2010, his name became quite well-known when he decided to go on an indefinite hunger strike in front of the headquarters of the National Assembly in front of the Church of San Francisco, in protest against the violation of indigenous rights, specifically of the Yukpa ethnic group and its leader Sabino Romero, who had been imprisoned. After the strike, his health was seriously affected; But his rebellious spirit remains intact, as demonstrated in a letter dated March 31, 2012, in which he opposes hospital treatment, stating: “I do not want to be placed in an intensive care unit in the event of a health failure or accident. I want to die with dignity, knowing and believing that death is a necessary step towards meeting the Father of life.” And in this letter he also severely denounces the commercialization of the health system in Venezuela. Brother Korta died on July 9, 2013, due to a car accident on the road from Ciudad Bolívar to Tauca. The indigenous people baptized José María Korta as brother “Ajishama,” which means the heron that shows the way to the Promised Land. He dedicated 41 of his 84 years of life to indigenous peoples.