Most people have never heard of Potosi, although it has been one of the most important places for the modern world. Situated on Bolivia’s altiplano, its silver mines singlehandedly funded the Spanish conquest of the America’s, and it became the world’s richest town. The fuelling of the European Renaissance claimed the lives of eight million African and Native American slaves, which would make the Cerro Rico better known as ‘the Mountain that Eats Men’.

Today, more than 500 years later, the longest continuously operating mine in the world still provides work for thousands of men and children. Nevertheless the mountain is dying and the 120.000 mostly Quechua Indians living in Potosi are severely impoverishing and suffering under the pollution caused by mine drainage.

Moreover, there are no mine safety standards whatsoever and the mining methods have changed little over the years, says Amalia Barron, a journalist based in La Paz. “The miners still toil for dawn till dusk, generators pump air into the tunnels so they can breathe, and children still wriggle into tiny places where adults cannot go. Working for sometimes 10 hours or more a day in extreme temperatures and in spaces filled with air-borne pollutants and puddles of toxic water, the miners keep going by chewing coca leaves.”

Meanwhile, the tunnels are sustained by old beams that miraculously prevent the mine shafts from caving in. Miners mostly do not reach the age of 40; lung-related illnesses and fatal accidents are frequent. Offering coca, tobacco and alcohol to El Tio – the spirit owner of the mountain– is the only thing the miners can do so that nothing will happen to them inside the mine. Take a look at the following trailer from the documentary 'The Devil's Miner' made by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani. If you're interested you really should try to find and watch the entire film; it's worth it!

One day of extremely hard labour in the dark will make a miner earn two to five dollars, depending on whether it’s a child or a grown man. The few lucky people who have earned enough move away, investing in something else than Potosi, leaving it to become a ghost town.  The memory of Potosi’s past splendours still lingers, it still has the ruins of its churches and palaces, and its silver tears are still being shed.

Sources:

ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=4582403&page=1

UNESCO http://www.unesco.org/courier/2000_03/uk/dici/txt1.htm

Latin American Herald Tribune http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=343999&CategoryId=14919

Public Broadcasting Service http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/devilsminer/mountain.html

Pictures:

www.daphne.palomar.edu

www.webshots.com