A violent clash between rival gold mining cooperatives in Bolivia has left six people dead and several others missing after a dynamite explosion tore through the Yani mining camp on Thursday.
The deadly blast occurred approximately 150 kilometres (90 miles) northwest of La Paz, the country’s administrative capital, following a bitter dispute over access to a gold-rich mining area.
“There are six dead, and we have reports of missing persons,” said Jhonny Silva, a representative of the Hijos de Ingenio Mining Cooperative—one of the two groups involved in the confrontation. Silva accused the rival Senor de Mayo cooperative of initiating the conflict with dynamite, destroying machinery, and even targeting a diesel tank.
The explosion not only killed miners but also damaged nearby homes and knocked out power to the nearby town of Sorata.
“This was an attack with dynamite that caused an explosion of great magnitude,” said Colonel Gunther Agudo, a local police official, who confirmed that rescue efforts are ongoing.
Mining cooperatives like Hijos de Ingenio and Senor de Mayo are a powerful force in Bolivia’s mineral-rich economy. These collectives emerged in the wake of Bolivia’s 1985 economic crisis and the temporary shutdown of the state-run mining company, COMIBOL. Formed as grassroots alternatives to unstable private and state employment, the cooperatives now dominate Bolivia’s mining workforce.
Today, an estimated 1,600 gold-mining collectives operate across the country. Despite their legal recognition, many of these groups operate informally, with minimal regulation, leading to dangerous working conditions and environmental concerns.
Thursday’s violence is the latest in a long history of deadly confrontations over mining access. In 2012, a similar dynamite attack in La Paz during a standoff between cooperatives and COMIBOL workers resulted in fatalities.
Silva indicated that tensions leading to the recent explosion had been escalating for years, but Thursday marked a tragic and unprecedented escalation.
Authorities continue to search for survivors and investigate the causes of the explosion. The Bolivian government has yet to issue a formal statement.
