Bolivia Cooperatives produce roughly a third of the nation’s -
mineral ore and employ more than 80 percent -
of its miners -
an immense bloc with a record of squeezing -
concessions from Bolivian leaders -
“Each administration thinks it can use the cooperatives
to its own political ends, but it’s the cooperatives who
end up using the government,“
said mining analyst Jorge Lema Patino -
And mistrust of the government runs deep in the
cooperatives, many of which formed after the state mining
company Comibol laid off some 27,000 miners during a
1980s crash in global mineral prices -
Determined to survive where the state failed, many banded
together and returned to work the mines with their -
own rudimentary tools -
Though many miners are too young to remember it,
the Comibol collapse still inspires their fierce pride -
in carrying the industry through its darkest hours -
and righteous indignation over the state’s efforts -
to take it back.
“In Bolivia it has been demonstrated historically
that the state is not a good administrator of its
own property,“ said Antonio Pardo,
Potosi security director for -
the National Federation of Mining Cooperatives -
“If they want a fight, we’ll give them a fight,
because we’re fighting for our livelihood -
and they’re fighting for fortune“ -
Though Morales repeatedly vows to “nationalize“ mining -
the entire industry has been at least nominally under -
state control since Bolivia’s 1952 revolution -
Both cooperatives and international companies operate -
under Comibol concessions -
Morales is seeking to regain control the government lost -
after the 1980s crash and a run of privatizations in
the 1990s -
while claiming a bigger share of mineral export -
revenues that soared from $547 million in 2005 to
more than $1 billion last year, mostly -
because zinc prices doubled -
Despite the windfall, the government collected -
only $48 million in mineral taxes in 2006 -
and $14 million the year before -
Echazu, the mining minister, says the government -
is preparing a bill that would impose safety standards -
and fair labor practices on the cooperatives -
a move never dared by Morales’ predecessors -
For all the inefficiency and danger, the cooperatives -
provide jobs that South America’s poorest country -
can hardly replace -
Cerro Rico de Potosi Mining Evaluation -
Franklin Mining, Bolivia S.A. and COMIBOL -
Officials Evaluate Production Plan etc. -
Its great that FMNJ making mining in Bolivia as a priority -
when the 666nss911terror-destructions continue in the US -
Bolivia gives me greater confidence today -
Imo. Tia.
FMNJ - mission -
tinyurl.com
God Bless
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