Born to a working class home in Uruguay, Elsa joined the Young Communist League at a young age, eventually joining the Partido Comunista del Uruguay. The 1973 military coup and repressive measures enacted by the dictatorship as part of the US-orchestrated Operation Condor campaign forced Elsa into exile in Argentina. Argentina would also fall to a dictatorship in 1976 orchestrated via Operation Condor leading to the Dirty War period, forcing Elsa into exile once again.
Elsa emigrated to Canada in 1977, making her home in Winnipeg. She eventually returned to Uruguay in 1986 with the end of the dictatorship. She began working at the Hospital de Clinicas, was an active participant in her union and the Communist Party. At her retirement in 2004 she began to divide her time between Uruguay and Winnipeg.
And in between all this, Elsa married and had three children.
Elsa wants to use this election to speak about indigenous victims of colonialism, immigrants, children and single mothers and poor seniors.
Elsa is the former co-chair of Grassroots Women Manitoba, a feminist organization which saw imperialism and neo-colonialism as the force driving the systemic marginalization of women.
Want to get involved? Talk about a socialist future? Volunteer? Donate? Email us at manitoba@cpc-pcc.ca