Bolivia tin mine workers stage protests

Bolivian tin-tungsten mineworkers staged protests outside government offices in La Paz to pressure for back pay, the latest unrest in the Andean nation's industry.

About 280 workers at the 70t/d underground Chojlla mine, located in La Paz department's Sud Yungas province, haven't been paid for a year and have taken the company to court, union leader Luis Mamani told state news agency ABI.

The protests come as Bolivia's workers federation (COB), an umbrella group for the country's labor unions including mineworkers, is demanding a 15% minimum wage increase for 2018. Mining unions spearheaded a series of national strikes in 2016 to protest against President Evo Morales' government.

Bolivia's mining industry, led by Glencore, Pan American Silver, Sumitomo, Argentum, Orvana Minerals and Franklin Mining, produced 17,460t tin, 486,955t zinc, 89,510t lead, 47.7Moz silver, 12,810kg gold, 8,718t copper, 1,399t tungsten, 2,669t antimony, 43,253kg bismuth and 2,940t iron ore in 2016, according to the national statistics institute.

Private investment has plummeted in Bolivia since President Morales seized mining assets from companies including Glencore, South American Silver and Jindal Steel after first taking power in 2006. Morales has launched a government drive to invest US$1.965bn in the mining and metallurgical industries by 2020, including mines, smelters and foundries.

Extradition

The protests at the Chojlla mine, controlled by former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada's brother-in-law Carlos Iturralde, come as Bolivia's government prepares a fresh attempt to extradite Sánchez de Lozada from the United States, where he has sought asylum since 2003.

Bolivia has complied with all the legal requisites to extradite Sánchez de Lozada and his former defense minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaín for their role in the repression of October 2003 protests known as Black October, foreign minister Fernando Huanacuni said.

A federal court of Fort Lauderdale found the two men guilty of ordering military repression of protests against a plan to export natural gas that left 71 dead and over 400 wounded.

Sánchez de Lozada, who was president in 1993-1997 and in 2002-2003, implemented private pension funds, privatized bankrupt state companies and attracted billions of dollars in foreign investment to the country's hydrocarbons industry before he was ousted by the protests.