Siglo XX
August 3, 2001
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The Hinajosa's arrange tours as a part of their educational program. The first we participated in was to Siglo XX (Twentieth Century), a tin mine that is about two hours away from Huanuni (another tin mine) where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960s.
To get to Siglo XX is in the north of the Department of Potosi. To get there from Cochabamba, one must first travel on a paved highway southwest to Oruro (4 hours) and then southeast on paved road to Huanuni (1 hour). From there the road is unpaved (2 more hours.)
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One goes through the eastern Andean range on the trip to Oruro. This is what the land looks like as one approaches the Altiplano after winding through the Andes. |
It was market day in one of the villages along the route. The market was noisy, colorful, and very Campesino. |
Here a couple of "Cholas" await transportation heading toward Cochabamba. Cholas are generally merchants that act as intermediaries between the country and city folk. |
In the early part of the 20th century, Siglo XX, once the largest tin mine in the world, was own by Simón Patiño, once the richest man in the world . In 1952, it was nationalized, and in the 1980s it was closed. After years of disuse, it was opened to private miners who are usually organized into cooperatives. After years of disuse followed by years with no sizable capital investment, the mine is in very poor condition.
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This is the entrance to Siglo XX and miles of passageways. A miner is emerging from work. |
Clemente, our guide, is offering coca and alcohol to a "Tio." A Tio is a god of the mine. It is the custom to offer Tios cigarettes as well, but we were not told to bring any...a bad omen. |
Clemente, acts as a guide for Runawasi students but he is a regular cooperative miner. He must walk through the mine for 2 hours (one way) to get to his worksite. |
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Virtually no equipment remains in Siglo XX - miners carry bags of ore out on their backs. Meanwhile, the remnants of equipment from nationalized mining days lies about rusting. Surface, support facilities are abandoned. Thus, another serious problem is the the lack of ventilation - dangerous levels of toxic gas prohibits the use of many passageways. |
Anne with Clemente's oldest daughter. She accompanied us to the mine but did not enter. |
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Jim, Anne, Melissa, and Maria with some of Clemente's family; four or five kids are unaccounted for. |
Llallagua, the civilian town adjacent to Siglo XX, serves as the commercial center for the north of the Department of Potosi. North Potosi is a difficult-to-access region in which traditional culture flourishes. The Sunday market is a lively place loaded with campesinos selling handicrafts and agricultural products. There is also a livestock market where llamas, burros, sheep, and bulls are sold. |
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Because rich deposits of tin are still to be found at Huanuni, another ex-Patiño/nationalized mine, its fate has been different than Siglo XX's. Last year it was sold to an English firm which is now imposing its evangelical, Christian beliefs on the superstitious miners.
Ciao,
Jim (and Anne)