BOLIVIA-MINERS/NEGOTIATIONS Bolivian government accuses striking miners of abandoning negotiations

Record ID: 145861

  • Title: BOLIVIA-MINERS/NEGOTIATIONS Bolivian government accuses striking miners of abandoning negotiations
  • Date: 29th July 2015
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (JULY 29, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** EXTERIOR OF THE MINISTRY OF THE GOVERNMENT CLOSE-UP OF MINISTRY OF THE GOVERNMENT MINISTER OF THE GOVERNMENT, CARLOS ROMERO, ENTERING CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MINISTER OF THE GOVERNMENT, CARLOS ROMERO, SAYING: "We have waited for them (the miners) very patiently but we have just
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAHW59VUCQKHCUJL97UZK4LXBB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Negotiations between the Bolivian government and striking miners from the Potosi department broke down on Tuesday (July 28) night with both sides accusing the other of abandoning talks.
    The talks, which began Sunday after violent clashes the previous week, were centered on the government's alleged refusal to sign agreements on development plans in the Potosi department.
    The government said that it had attended to all the demands of the Potosi Civic Committee (Comcipo), and it was now up to miners to lift the strike, Prensa Latina reported.
    "We have waited for them very patiently but we have just found out through the media that they are abandoning (negotiations) without a valid explication," Minister of the Government, Carlos Romero, told reporters on Wednesday (July 29).
    The government lamented Comcipo leader Johnny Lalli's lack of will during the talks, which it said were approached with political interest.
    Romero also expressed concern for the committee's ensuing actions, and said he believed that now protesters will abandon their camps in the capital and return home where further demonstrations are planned.
    "They will now leave for Potosi with the intention of establishing a coup against the governor and the mayor who were both elected democratically with more than 60 percent of the vote," said Romero.
    For weeks, protesters from the southern Bolivian department of Potosi have called for the construction of hospitals, roads, a cement factory and an international airport to be built in their region as part of a 26-point plan for the government.
    Men, women and children from the region have occupied the San Andres University Auditorium in La Paz, adding further pressure to the government after weeks of protests, putting the onus on President Evo Morales to respond to demands.
    Comcipo blamed the government for ending talks, and said the authorities did not uphold their obligations, such as televising the meetings across state channels without interruption.
    "The ministers are the ones who have broken the dialogue, the department of Potosi has not broken the dialogue at any moment, they clearly abandoned it yesterday," Comcipo Vice-President, Marco Antonio Pumari, said on Wednesday.
    "Nobody in Potosi believes (the government). They have tried to demobilise our movement but they have not achieved that. Today Potosi is stronger that it was, its eyes open wide to see the real face of this government which camouflages its totalitarianism with a socialist hue," Pumari added.
    Potosi, a rural area of the country known for its mining resources, suffers a lack of development, lagging behind the rest of the country and a national economic growth rate of five per cent.
    The dispute comes at a difficult time for mining in Bolivia. Twenty percent of Bolivian mining cooperatives are working at a loss due to the fall in mineral prices, raising anger at the government for failures to enact industrialisation plans in Potosi.
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