Potosi and Tupiza... Silver and Banditos

After spending two days at Potosi, I arrived in Tupiza by a bumpy overnight bus ride. Imagine sitting in one of those paint shakers at Home Depot and you generally have the idea. The roads in Bolivia are terrible and you are constantly being bounced off your seat.

Tupiza is a small, sleepy town surrounded by red canyons which is the staging ground for 4X4 tours into the

famous Salt Flats or Salar De Uyuni. I have signed up for a four-day tour starting tomorrow with three other people I haven´t met yet. The stars are supposed to be incredibly clear (due to 4000+ meter elevation and remoteness) and I expect to be freezing at night as the accomodations have no insulation or heating.Tupiza is also known as the place where Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid died nearby in a shoot out with the Bolivian army on November 7, 1908 following their robbery of a payroll caravan. The bandits actually died in the small mining settlement of San Vincente just north of Tupiza. Their bodies are still buried there.

As there are general elections in Bolivia this October, President Morales is making appearances throughout the country including Potosi. I kept missing the `big guy´ by a day or two throughout Bolivia but not in Potosi. After walking up the hill where the town is built and settling in a cheap hotel, I waited below blue and white political banners with the rest of the locals including many miners. No one knew when he would show up and more than once the crowd moved, unsure of his exact route. Then with some stir in the air, the president quickly walked up the street with a crowd of officials, police and army personnel. He walked so fast I could hardly get a picture, so I went behind the stage and when he got off after making a speech, I climbed onto the stage to get some pictures as he walked by.

Bolivia....  where else can you get within 5 feet of the president or buy a stick of
dynamite and bag of cocoa leaves at a convenience store. In Potosi, I joined a mining tour of one of the mines in the El Cerro Rico (beautiful mountain) that looms above Potosi. The mountain is also known as the "consumer of men" and at its peak output, 80 000 miners toiled in the mountain. It is estimated 8 to 9 million people have died mining this mountain.  There are still 16 000 men, women and children (as young as fourteen years old) working the mines but in cooperatives (independent of any companies).

Silver was found in mountain in 1545 and the first mine into the mountain began in 1609. Incredibly, 57 billion tons of silver ore was extracted from this mountain and even after 400 years, minerals like tin, copper and small traces of silver (only 3-4% now) are still being mined. It is estimated the mountain can be mined for another 200 years by hand (or 50 years by heavy machinery). None of the ore is processed in Bolivia and all is sold in its raw form. In the old colonial days, essentially all the wealth was sent to the Spanish Empire as indigenous slaves were used, many living (and dying) inside the mines. They often lived inside the mines for six months. Most miners today live to about 45 to 50 years old but develope lung problems, breathing in the sulfur, asbestos and dust all day. The most common death in the mine is carbon monoxide poisoning but luckily, the mountain is made of volcanic granite, so cave-ins are unlikely.

I decided to take the mine tour in the morning as they do the blasting in the afternoon and it is even more dustier. All the miners chew cocoa leaves to stay alert, get energy and not feel hungry and they continue to be very superstitious. They still will make offerings to the underground god and mother earth (pacha mama). There was a statue in our mine with offerings of pure alcohol (for pure silver), cocoa leaves and cigarettes.

Going on the tour is a sombre experience. If you are claustrophobic (afraid of small, confined spaces) or have respiratory problems. This is not the place for you. There is little to no lighting in the cave (except for your headlamp) as you walk, duck and crawl through the muddy or dusty mine passages  for about three hours that are at times unpleasantly hot and humid. This is a harsh and unforgiving work place. There are no medical facilities on the entire mountain. Occasionally you will see miners dig and shovel pieces of rock still by hand, quickly scrambling down one of the vertical tunnels that go several hundred meters or hauling and
pushing old iron car or wheel barrels. On an average day, three miners will pull/ pull 2.5 tons of ore on a cart for about 1 km on a rusty track ten times a day. Children called helpers will transport slightly ligher 1.5 ton loads. In some tight spots, miners are carrying sacks of ore haunched over. There are also families that work the mines with brothers or father and sons irking a small living. And how much do they make  for 6 days a week of 8-hour back breaking days? Miners earn between $78 to $155 a week while the children make $15 to $19. A sad reality.