User:Krisgabwoosh/2021 Regional Elections

The 2006 Huanuni miners' conflict, commonly referred to a Black October (Spanish: Octubre Negro) or the Tin War (Spanish: Guerra del Estaño), was a

Background
The small town of Huanuni lies at an altitude of 3,960 meters above sea level and is situated in the Pantaleón Dalence Province, approximately 50 kilometers from the city of Oruro, in the department of the same name. The town's population, according to statistics from the 2001 census, amounted to 19,428 inhabitants, the vast majority of whom made their livings in the mining industry. The Huanuni mine draws from the neighboring Posokoni hill, which contains Bolivia's largest and richest tin deposits. Despite the area's substantial mineral wealth, Huanuni and the surrounding region remains significantly underdeveloped, lacking most basic public service.

Huanuni's poor living conditions "reflect[ed] the misery of the mineworkers", whose life expectancy dropped to roughly ten years once they started working. Historically, all mineworkers had been state employees contracted by the Bolivian Mining Corporation (COMIBOL) since the company's establishment in 1952. However, by the early 2000s, a drop in demand for world metal and decades of successive neoliberal governments had led to the privatization of large swaths of the previously nationalized mining industry, giving rise to two distinct forms of mining employment. Those who remained employed under COMIBOL were known as salaried or "regular" workers, wage laborers receiving small benefits, represented by the Syndical Federation of Bolivian Mineworkers (FSTMB). The economic crisis of the 1980s significantly reduced their numbers to the point that by 2006, only around 800 mineworkers remained classified under this category. In their stead, significant numbers of cooperative laborers began working the Huanuni mine, with their population skyrocketing from 200 in 1995 to over 4,000 by 2006. Cooperative mineworkers were either associates of, employed with, or paid by one of four major cooperatives: K’arazapato, La Salvadora, Libres, and Playa Verde, all under the umbrella of the National Federation of Mining Cooperatives (FENCOMIN). Members collectively owned the ore they mined, which was then sold by the cooperatives to COMIBOL or private corporations.

Conflict
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/latin_america/newsid_5415000/5415330.stm https://elpais.com/internacional/2006/10/06/actualidad/1160085605_850215.html