Bolivian miners have been protesting new legislation, and things have escalated into this:
Bolivian minister lynched by protesting minersGovernment locked in standoff with workers over new legislation for the sector (emphasis added)
Bolivia’s deputy interior minister, Rodolfo Illanes, was beaten to death on Thursday by striking mineworkers who had kidnapped him after he attempted to negotiate with them at a roadblock they had staged, which was cutting off the country’s main highway.
The incident took place at Panduro, some 185 kilometers from the capital, La Paz, after Illanes was kidnapped on Thursday morning. During the day, police attempted to clear the roadblock, and in one incident, shot and killed a 26-year-old miner, named as Rubén Aparaya. There were reports police killed another miner in Cochabamba province during another standoff.
Illanes and hid assistant were on their way to talk to the striking miners, when they were ambushed and kidnapped. The assistant escaped and needed medical attention, but
Illanes made several telephone calls over the course of the day to the government calling on it to send a delegation to talk with the miners. After police moved in to try to clear the roadblock, no more was heard from him. Once the police had succeeded in their operation, a journalist reported seeing a badly beaten body tied against a lamppost.
100 people were arrested in connection with the killing.
Par for the course for Bolivia. Evo’s path to power was paved with roadblocks, which Evo promoted when he was head of the cocalero’s union. Evo’s roadblocks were not a new tactic in Bolivian politics. Evo was merely doing things the way they are done in Bolivia. The anarchic tendency in Bolivia could also be shown by the frequency of military coups, successful or not, during much of Bolivian history.
Evo: heist on his own petard.
Will Evo knee the miners in the groin? 🙂