La Paz - Lethal clashes between independent and state tin miners over the past day prompted the dismissal Friday of Minister of Mines Walter Villarroel.
Leftist President Evo Morales, himself a one-time mineworker, charged that Villarroel failed to take the necessary steps to defuse the crisis blamed for up to 21 deaths since Thursday.
Morales also urged his 'former colleagues' to stop the violence and avoid becoming an 'instrument of neo-liberalism' - referring to a concept used by Latin America's leftist leaders to criticize globalization and US influence.
Morales named the politician Guillermo Dalence as the new minister. The head of the state-owned mining company, Comibol, was also replaced.
Clashes broke out on Thursday between the state and independent- cooperative mineworkers over rights to the increasingly valuable proceeds from a jointly-worked mine in Huanuni, about 300 kilometres southwest of La Paz, in the province of Oruro.
It took 700 security police to end the fighting, a government spokesperson said. The miners fired shots and tossed sticks of dynamite at each other. Substantial property damage included destruction of the mine's ventilation system.
The cooperatives, formed in the 1980s after the bankruptcy of privatised mines, are demanding a greater share of the tin resources they dig out while working alongside state companies.
The international price of tin has almost doubled since 2002, and the sector's good perspectives attract an increasing number of workers in one of the poorest countries in Latin America.
The number of mine workers in the region has risen from 200 in 1995 to the current 4,000, according to La Razón newspaper.
The conflict in Huanuni comes at a difficult time for leftist populist Morales. He set out to improve the lot of the poor through the nationalization of Bolivia's natural resources, most notably the country's energy resources, which were nationalised on May 1. But Morales also relies on the so-called 'cooperativistas' for support.
The ruling party Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) has proposed a bill in La Paz which would open the door to the creation of a joint mining company that incorporates both 'cooperativistas' and state workers.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Join M&C's relaunched forums for extended discussion...its free!
Please fill out our anonymous survey , it helps us improve the site and get to know more about our readers.
Weather
Search by place or ZIP (U.S.) or
Browse
