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Cochabamba is a city founded in the 16th century and located in a fertile valley in the Andes at 2,558 meters above sea level, with a population of over 600,000. The name of the city in the Quechua language would mean “lake and plain”.
\nAccording to Dr. Klement Derado and Dr. Ivan \u010cizmi\u0107, the first store in Cochabamba was opened by the brothers Jakov and Jure Sabioncello from Nere\u017ei\u0161\u0107e in 1904. The second store was opened by Juraj Jankovi\u0107 in 1917. In the thirties of the 20th century, there were others such as Galetovi\u0107 and Plasti\u0107 from Pu\u010di\u0161\u0107a Bra\u010d, Stjepan Jankovi\u0107 and the Eterovi\u0107 brothers and Ante Zapkovi\u0107 and Ivan Vlahovi\u0107 from Sumartin, then Plasti\u0107 and Alonzo and Matija \u017duvi\u0107 from Dra\u010devica, then Vicko \u0160kari\u0107 from Postira and Ante Bezmalinovi\u0107 from Nere\u017ei\u0161\u0107a.
\nAfter the First World War, the Yugoslav Benevolent Society was founded in Cochabamba. The board members in 1936 were: Petar Boneta, president, Venancije \u0160tambuk, vice-president, Vinko Vlahovi\u0107, secretary, Miro \u0160tambuk, vice secretary, Vicko \u0160kari\u0107, treasurer, and the councilors were Petar Tadi\u0107, Antun Eterovi\u0107, Antun Milo\u0161evi\u0107 and Petar Tur\u010dinovi\u0107.
\nAt that time, an orphanage was established in Cochabamba for the children of our settlers, and a cemetery was also built.
\nAfter the Second World War, the city became the economic, cultural and political center of Bolivia. This attracted numerous Croats from other parts of the country, so we can call it the largest center of people from Bra\u010d in Bolivia. Obviously, this also applied to others, because later, from 1982 to 2022, the number of inhabitants increased by five times.
\nCroats continued to trade, but a large number of intellectuals, engineers and professors also stood out. The Yugoslavian Honorary Consulate also operated in Cochabamba, and the position of Honorary Consul was held by Luka Lav\u010devi\u0107 from Hvar. Later, in 1996, hotelier Drago Muzevic succeeded him as Honorary Consul of the Republic of Croatia, and he held the position for twenty years, that is, until his death in 2017.<\/p>\n
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Luka Lav\u010devi\u0107 with Mother Teresa and granddaughter Moira<\/p>\n
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Luka and Jenny Lavcevic visiting Croatia and his hometown Vrboska for the first time 24 years after he left<\/p>\n
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Branka Bezi\u0107 Filipovi\u0107<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cochabamba is a city founded in the 16th century and located in a fertile valley in the Andes at 2,558 meters above sea level, with a population of over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bolivia"],"yoast_head":"\n