From Sucre, we reached Potosi in about three hours by car. Its importance is linked to the mineral wealth of the past. From Cerro Rico – which literally means ‘rich mountain’ – gold, silver and tin were extracted. Today, the amount of minerals there has drastically reduced, but the mines are still one of the few main resources of the population. In fact, in recent years, in addition to mining, they have played an important role in ethical tourism. Wandering through the streets of the center, you will probably come across various agencies that organize tours inside the mines.
Contrary to popular belief, the spirit of these tours consists in understanding the living conditions of the mineros (miners) who are literally forced to work in the underworld. Mud, fine powders, toxic gases, high temperatures and extremely unsafe conditions represent the everyday work routine for many miners. Not surprisingly, many of them are affected by lung silicosis, which is a major cause of death in this area.
One of the main objectives of the mines tour is to try to help, as much as possible, the workers by buying something necessary to alleviate the working day: water, soft drinks and coca leaves, that they chew from morning to evening. The miners’ cheeks are swollen with these leaves that are left to rest in a thick bubble against the gums. Everyone chews in the mine. It is a great help to get by for twelve hours without eating, having to stay inside galleries that take your breath away and are full to the brim with poisoning dust.
We decided to take part in one of these tours and still today we remember it as a very powerful experience both from a psychological and physical point of view. Although all the necessary equipment (suits, glasses, helmets) is provided, the tunnels are dark, slippery, and sometimes you will have to climb more levels on dangerous ladders leaning precariously on the mountain walls. Furthermore, dynamite explosions made to open new passages are very frequent.
All miners of Potosí are organized in cooperatives where they deposit a share of their poor weekly revenues. People always work in groups, and often they are familiar formations: fathers, children, uncles and cousins.
Seeing these people working in such unsafe conditions at sometimes unbearable temperatures, makes that place a hell in the literal sense of the term, not to mention that the Cerro Rico mine also includes numerous working children, called niños mineros.
The only minor consolation for these people is worshipping “El Tio”: a horned fetish, seated, covered with confetti and coca leaves. Its virile penis is erect. They pray him every day so that he would bring a good “harvest” of precious metals.
Would we recommend this kind of tour today? Probably not. When we had booked the excursion, we had no idea about what we would have been able to see. In hindsight we would have preferred to support the miners’ cause in a different way, by making a donation, or simply purchasing the necessary items for them without taking part in any tour.
