Fade into Bolivian
Trip Start
Jan 15, 2006
1
34
52
Trip End
Sep 05, 2006
Potosi and Sucre,
Bolivia
Thursday, April 20, 2006
In Sucre, we visited a couple of churches that were built in 1609 and 1621. (By comparison, the oldest US building still standing is a small wooden house built in Massachusetts in 1636.) The region's wealth is primarily derived from a giant silver mine (mountain) that looms above Potosi
01 - Church in Potosi
. Bolivians claim, (this can be taken with a grain of salt) that Potosi was the wealthiest and most sophisticated city in the hemisphere in the late 1600's.Bolivia's fall from grace has been dramatic. When Mike Tyson announced his retirement by saying he would now "fade into Bolivian" scribes were not sure if he was clueless or making a very clever double entendre. (I vote for clueless.) How many of you know anything about Bolivian history beyond the capture of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid?
Bolivia was hit by the double whammy of colonialism and a precursor of the oil wealth effect, whereby, in recent decades, those countries that found large amounts of oil actually tended to have poor economic development (Norway being the main exception.) The Spanish did not want to actually get their hands dirty in the mines and enslaved the local Indian population to go underground. When this labor pool ran dry, they imported large numbers of African slaves. Since we have not yet seen a black face in Bolivia, I suspect our tour guides are not underestimating the lethality of 18th century mine work.
By the time Bolivia gained independence in 1825, most of the silver had been exported to Spain
02 - Main Square in Potosi
. Today the mine still operates and mainly extracts lower value products such as zinc. In 1952, the miners revolted and the state nationalized the mine. The current miners work in cooperative groups of 5 to 10 miners and share the proceeds. Kia and I did a mine tour and it is hard to imagine that conditions were much worse prior to nationalization.Before entering the mine, our tour guides dressed us in protective jumpsuits and suggested we buy some gifts for the miners. I said, "Sure, but what is the right gift for the well dressed miner? A new headlamp, perhaps?" I was quickly set straight. All the miners wanted was their daily supplies of coca leaves, dynamite and a plastic bottle of 192 proof grain alcohol. Hmmmm..... Maybe this mine tour is not such a good idea. I extracted a promise that they would not use the dynamite until after we were above ground. Our guide told us this would not be a problem, but I did not notice him forwarding our request when he doled out our gifts. As we entered the mine my thoughts turned to the West Virginia coal miners who were presumably working under strict OSHA guidelines. Does Bolivia have OSHA? I didn't think so.
The mine itself is an endless series of tunnels and galleries that reminds me of an antfarm that I had as a child
03 - Potosi Architecture
. Dust and (presumably) noxious fumes fill the air. Every now and then a couple of small planks are laid across what appear to be bottomless shafts. Miners begin an apprenticeship as young as age 13 and may work 15 to 20 years before their lung capacity is so diminished that they can no longer live in Potosi's thin air (13.4k feet). The conditions appear to stunt one's growth as I was consistently bent over in 5-6 foot tall tunnels while most Bolivians walked upright. It is not considered safe to eat in the mine so the miners walk around with giant wads of coca leaves in their mouth to get through an eight hour shift.We made it out in one piece despite the miners ignoring our request regarding blasting. The tunnel rattled a bit but did not collapse. I was quite happy to see daylight with my lungs apparently intact. My appetite for lunch was not so fortunate.
Our next stop is La Paz.
