From Posokoni
Huanuni: five years of confrontation between miners
• By: Ramiro Andrade Ramos
The so-called capital of the Bolivian tin, Huanuni, apart from being a traditional mining town is characterized by a peaceful, hardworking and cheerful.
But something went wrong that fateful May and October 6, 2006 in which two groups of miners or “khoyanchos” who carried out their tasks in the bowels of the Cerro Khoya Posokoni Orcko or clashed.
But contextualicémonos: after the relocation of 1986, which was converted Huanuni something like a ghost town, and while some stayed, had the courage to stand tin laboring despite its tiny price in international markets.
He was then gradually repopulated with people coming mostly from the mines of Northern Potosí, due to exhaustion of the veins of its mining centers (Llallagua Uncia Catavi, etc.) and recover the international price of metal devil, were created four cooperatives no longer exist: La Salvadora, Free, Karazapato and Playa Verde.
From quietly begun to generate a kind of “cold war” for possession of more areas of work, as huanuneños, most of which depended on the Huanuni Mining Company in a number of 800 workers, while the four unions came to gather about four thousand workers about the Posokoni was divided into two parts at the height of level 200.
And remembering the candidacy of Evo Morales in 2005, he allied himself with them more promising cooperative work areas in exchange for votes and of course, failed.
That morning of October 5, according to former cooperatives have some friends were summoned to a general meeting of cooperatives in the Dolores mine entrance, where they decided to subdue the area corresponding to EMH workers entering such facilities in the vicinity of the mine entrance Patiño , they do not let pushy, they responded with what they had on hand, and pushed back, withdrawing the cooperative to the heights of Mount Posokoni.
It spread nationwide this fratricidal confrontation saw many wounded, hospital collapse of the village are living in a total psychosis.
The Government did absolutely nothing to stop the conflict during the day, even, the second president in his impotence offered to “give coffins for the dead,” came only at night a committee met with the leaders of both sides antagonists Huanuni the cathedral but to no avail, we woke up this October 6 with dynamite everywhere, the terrible “llantazos” dynamite-filled tires and “ANFO” – with lit fuse that descended from the heights of Posokoni launched from the way Llallagua to destroy the infrastructure of the EMH, fear, marches calling for peace, crying children and much more.
And just that Friday in June about noon entered Huanuni-avoiding the main entrance to the Avenue July 16 where he was the Ferecomin (Regional Federation of Mining Cooperatives of Huanuni) -, 500 policemen, the gradual return of calm without But even with tension as the cooperative were reunited in their sheds vigil threatening to restart the fighting.
The result, more than a dozen dead and many wounded, orphans, widows, still remember the son of the woman who disappeared completely due to an explosion in the market which only Dolores found her braids while your child wanders comfort seeking an explanation that no one gave him.
After the pause, the “Cooper” threatened to resume their reckless actions to separate meetings in their tanks, even in the vicinity of Duncan and subsequent regrouping Cataricagua attended assemblies where they made such massive underground workers.
Cooperative members reluctantly agreed to join the new company Minera Huanuni Decree 28901 created a total of approximately 5,000 workers, but a group of former “Cooper” that did not go to that company revamped unemployed who left the government in a purely sensational effort offered work in Santa Maria, El Mutún, leaving all this in words, and killed when they clashed with the community members of Huaylluma, in addition to being repressed these former cooperative when they went to La Paz to demand the fulfillment of the promises the Government.
Today the situation is totally different and just looks that much was done but, paradoxically, one can say that nothing was done because it seems that history will repeat itself with this new international crisis of commodity prices while the Minister of Mines, late and so improvised that is low impact on the price of tin is not strong.
(*) Ex cultures official Huanuni Municipal Government
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