BOLIVIA-MINERS/PROTEST Miners from Potosi clash with police as their demands go unmet

Record ID: 149250

  • Title: BOLIVIA-MINERS/PROTEST Miners from Potosi clash with police as their demands go unmet
  • Date: 22nd July 2015
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (JULY 22, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MINERS AND SUPPORTERS MARCHING TO DEMAND DIALOGUE WITH THE GOVERNMENT MINERS MARCHING TOWARD THE INTERIOR MINISTRY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COOPERATIVE MINER, GERONIMO LLANKE, SAYING: "Unfortunately, the president (President Evo Morales) has forgotten about Potosi. He'd rather play soccer and forget about everyone else. We
  • Embargoed: 6th August 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6SBQWLKYD4K7608HHEDQRRP6P
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Bolivian miners wielding dynamite and rocks clashed with police armed with tear gas and rubber bullets in La Paz on Wednesday (July 22) after talks between mining leaders and the government fell apart.
    The day started peaceful with thousands of demonstrators marching alongside some 1,500 striking miners through the streets of La Paz toward the interior ministry where leaders of the COMCIPO (Potosi Civil Committee) met with government representatives.
    However, the talks quickly came to an end after the COMCIPO representatives said they're demands were not met by the governments proposal.
    The striking miners were quick to condemn the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales saying he was neglecting the poor southern department of Potosi.
    "Unfortunately, the president (President Evo Morales) has forgotten about Potosi. He'd rather play soccer and forget about everyone else. We wouldn't be marching through these streets if they would listen to us. We want solutions because our families are suffering in Potosi because there isn't any food. There is some amount of food here, but none in Potosi. There is price speculation for food. This worries us," said one miner, Geronimo Llanke.
    For weeks protesters from the southern Bolivian department of Potosi have called for the construction of hospitals, roads and an international airport to be built in their region as part of a 26-point plan for the government.
    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.
    It is also suffering from high poverty and food and medicine shortages.
    "There have already been 17 days of demonstrations. We are truly seeing the negligence, the pride of the president (Morales) who can't serve the department of Potosi. There are a lot of families suffering in the department because there aren't any supplies in the family basket," another miner, Cristian Lozada said.
    There was a large police presence at the central Murillo Square as demonstrators waited to see the fruits of dialogue between COMCIPO leaders and Bolivia's interior minister, Carlos Romero; Morales' chief of staff, Juan Ramon Quintana and the minister of public works, Milton Claros.
    Shortly after the COMCIPO leaders left the discussions, frustrated with the government proposals, the square erupted.
    Demonstrating miners used dynamite to blow open the doors to the interior ministry.
    They rushed in smashing windows and igniting dynamite.
    Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.
    The grounds at the German embassy, which is near the interior ministry, caught on fire and had to be put out by firefighters.
    The government ministers were safely evacuated from the building, but two of their cars were vandalized by dynamite.
    The melee lasted about an hour and there were unconfirmed reports of injuries, though it was not clear how many people were hurt.
    The miners said they plan to continue to pressure the government and will hold the strike indefinitely.
    Other groups, including groups from the city of El Alto which overlooks La Paz, have said they could join the Potosi protest movement if it is not resolved.
    The protest 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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