Potosi, a city with a bad past and uncertain future

Street scene in Potosi
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I find it hard to write good things about Potosi. First of all, the altitude is oppressive! At 4,200 metres you can feel effort in everything you do, even combing your hair! The town itself is overshadowed by an imposing ugly mine-scarred mountain (Cerro Rico - Rich Mountain) atop of which sits a huge cross and strange-looking memorial. Poverty here is real and right in your face! Its horrible really. Most of the women favour the traditional garb and wear a haunted look. There is something about this place that makes your spine chill.

That painting depicting the Crowning of the Silver Mountain!!
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On the surface some of the buildings are quite beautiful - grandiose colonial of course, because at one stage at the height of its popularity during colonial times, I think the population was greater than London or Paris. The town square is well used and cheerful enough, but that´s about where it ends. The streets are narrow, littered with rubbish, debris, dogs, beggars and theives. The town markets are depressing, with much of the wares very meagre and taudry and just piled on old boxes or propped up tables. The pavements are in need of serious repair, and we were constantly reminded of our personal safety. This made it quite difficult to get around the place really, as it was best always to go with someone else.

Potosi, city with a bad past and uncertain future

The turnstiles where the slaves were tied to during the height of silver production and minting of coins in Potosi
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Potosi became a mining jugganaut and was the silver capital of the New World during colonial times and was actually "crowned" or rather blessed by the Pope at the time for the riches it bestowed as it fuelled the European renaissance. There´s a fabulous early painting depicting this, and hopefully it comes out in the pics I´ve taken. The painting is at the moment travelling through Europe, so it would be interesting to see what they think of it, particularly in Spain. Suffice to say that its a dreadfully depressing place, and I would not like to return.

Street scene in Potosi
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Anyway the first day we went to the Casa de la Moneda (the Royal Mint). It´s in this beautifully-restored building where you discover what actually happened here. It tells the story of the rape of Bolivia by the Spanish, and I found it truly disgusting. Eight million indigenous people lost their lives in that mine during colonial times (1545 to 1825), and there continues to be one "incident" each day. The silver (also other minerals, but in far less quantities) is apparently running out, and the fickle metals markets affect the lives and work of the people of Potosi, which are almost all connected in some way to the mine. The Casa de la Moneda was where the first coins were minted and they continued to be transferred back to the New World for quite a few centuries.  The machinery/equipment has been restored to operating condition, and I think our guide said the last Bolivian coins (and notes) were minted in the 1970´s. Because of the cost, Bolivia´s notes and coins are now apparently produced in France, how ironic! The Casa de la Moneda has some remarkable, but disturbing relics of the past, and I wondered whether Potosi and its past (given its importance to the coffers during colonial times) is taught in the European education system. Our tour guide is an archeologist by profession and provided an excellent commentary of the place, including where they tied slaves to the turnstiles to keep the furnaces going. Yet the history books say mules did it. Yeah right! And the deaths occuring there weren´t included in the eight million from the mine itself.

Courtyard of the Casa de Moneda
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We decided to see a bit more for ourselves and went on a mine tour the following day. There are more than 500 entrances chaotically dotted all over the mountain and its now run by this complex co-operative system where bosses manage between 10 and 200 men. No one owns a mining lease, and the minerals are purchased by international mining companies as I understand it. The miners only get paid per ton of minerals they extract, often work alone and way underground for up to 36 hours straight!! More disturbingly, boys start mining at 12 years old, but curiously (huh!) they´re not allowed the 96% proof alcohol consumed by the adult miners!! I think they can chew cocoa leaves out the whazoo and work the same hours as the adult males. If one of the miners dies, his son takes his place. The lower the miners go, the shorter their life-span. It seems that those working way way underground earn more, but die up to 15 years earlier because of the poisonous gases. Are you feeling uncomfortable yet?

Town square in Potosi
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At each of the entrances women take tally of the number of miners that enter or exit the mine at each shift. At the mine entrance we visited, a woman showed us the tally sheet, and her five young children were playing around in the dirty and dangerous conditions at the mine opening. Anyway as part of the mine tour we were togged out in mining gear and went underground where I found it dreadfully oppressive (and I don´t really suffer from claustrophobia). It felt like a tomb, and I hated it. Well when you consider probably 9 million people have lost their lives in there, its little wonder, right?

The mine opening we visited(one of the thousands on the mountain)
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We were encouraged to purchase "miner´s packs" to give to the miners we encountered on our tour inside. The packs consisted of a bag of cocoa leaves and the catalyst, 2 sticks of dynamite, biscuits and bottle of 96% proof alcohol that smelled just like metho (presumably that deadens the pain of their existence). They cost about US$3.00, and the miners we gave them to seemed extremely grateful saying that sometimes they work all day for that. Hmmm...even when I think about that now, it makes my skin crawl. Apparently safety conditions are followed by the miners, as I imagine the 20,000? who work there would want to limit any so-called "incidents". I asked the mine guide if there was any union activity in existence, but I already knew the answer. Those that don´t work for cooperatives (I think there are quite a few of those, but I´m not sure how many) are virtually defenseless, eeking out an existence God knows how.

Potosi street scene
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At the end of the tour, the miners blew up a few left-over sticks of dynamite for us. It was fun I guess, but I felt little consolation, watching him light the fuse then scramble down the mountain until the explosion hit. They´re proud people, and seeing them reduced to this is very disturbing. But I´ve gone on about it enough so if you want to read more, go to this site ... http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_03/uk/dici/txt1.htm

That painting again ... try and enlarge it if you can
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The next afternoon we decided on a tour of the Saint Teresa Catacombs - a cathedral-type place which was a cloister for nuns operating during colonial times. Here again you can see the excesses of European indulgence amidst the most abject poverty. Its really disgusting. And if I was a religious person before I entered these places, I´m positive it would turn me right off. This was meant to be a closed order, to assist the people of the city and provide (actually I have no idea what), but all we saw was bling upon bling and more bling! Just when you think you´ve seen enough 24 carat gold leaf, fantastically adorned costumery, elaborate knaves, silver and gold artifacts, massive original paintings, you walk into another room and its even more extravagant. Anyway you will see from the photos what I mean I´m sure.

Inside the horrible mine that's taken 9 million lives
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I was glad to leave depressing Potosi to its precarious destiny. But I won´t forget the effect it had on me. But this is part of travelling, right? Taking the good with the bad, the beautiful with the ugly in a sea of paradox is what makes the experience worthwhile. There is probably no better way of making sense of the world because you have been exposed to both sides.

Enough of my ramblings now ... I just hope it isn´t too self-indulgent... So when you think something at your work turns to shyte or the coffee you order isn´t hot enough, spare a thought for the miners of Potosi, Bolivia.