Montaño was the Vice President of the Human Rights Assembly of Bolivia and the Comptroller of Cochabamba, Bolivia. From 1997 to 2002 she was in the Chamber of Deputies representing the Cochabamba Department.[4] In 1981, during the Bolivian Cocaine Coup, Montaño was the head of the Union de Mujeres de Bolivia (Union of Bolivian Women). She was arrested, and stayed in her house, under house arrest.[8] Montaño returned to her work in 1981, after the end of the dictatorship.[9]
On 11 April 1985 Montaño started the Oficina Jurídica para la Mujer (Legal Office for Women) to promote women’s rights and fight violence against women. The organization has helped more than 30,000 women. It has also worked with the Bolivian legislature to make laws to protect women.[10]
↑"The Americas: The Republic of Bolivia"(PDF). Amnesty International Report 1981. 1 May 1980 to 30 April 1981. London: Amnesty International Publications: 118. 1981. Archived from the original(PDF) on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
↑Wagner, Maria Luise (December 1989). "Transition to Democracy". A Country Study: Bolivia. Library of Congress. Retrieved 13 March 2015.