Bolivian Miners Fight Each Other for Control of Nationalized Mine

September 21, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

A funeral has been held for a Bolivian miner killed during protests in La Paz, as his family and friends are calling for revenge. Rival miners have taken their battle over who should run the mine onto the streets, and there appears to be no end in sight. Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo reports from the town of Colquiri, near La Paz, in Bolivia.

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Bolivia

Bolivia, officially known as the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. It is bordered by Brazil to the north and east, Paraguay and Argentina to the south, Chile to the southwest, and Peru to the west. Prior to European colon... Explore this topic

Mining in Bolivia

Mining in Bolivia has been a dominant feature of the Bolivian economy as well as Bolivian politics since 1557. Colonial era silver mining in Bolivia, particularly in Potosí, played a critical role in the Spanish Empire and the global economy. Tin mining supplanted silvery by t... Explore this topic

Colquiri

Colquiri is a town in the La Paz Department in Bolivia. It is the seat of the Colquiri Municipality, the fourth municipal section of the Inquisivi Province. Explore this topic

La Paz

Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the seat of government of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra. It is located in the western part of the country in the department of the same... Explore this topic

Nationalization

Nationalization is the process of taking a private industry or private assets into public ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being ... Explore this topic

Cooperative

A cooperative, co-operative, or coöperative is an autonomous association of persons who voluntarily cooperate for their mutual, social, economic, and cultural benefit. Cooperatives include non-profit community organizations and businesses that are owned and managed by the peop... Explore this topic

Trade union

A trade union, labour union or labor union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay, increasing the number of employees an employer hires, and better working conditions. T... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Federación Sindical de Trabajadores Mineros de Bolivia

The Union Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers is a labor union in Bolivia that represents miners. Bolivia's miners are commonly regarded as the country's most class-conscious workers. The FSTMB has played an important role in Bolivia's recent history. The union emerged in the ... Explore this topic

Tin mining

Tin mining began early in the Bronze Age, as bronze is a copper-tin alloy. Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth’s crust, with approximately 2 ppm, compared to iron with 50,000 ppm. A person involved in tin mining is sometimes called a tinner. Explore this topic

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Bolivia

Mining in Bolivia

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