The World : Bolivia Ending Mines Role

Bolivia’s Cabinet voted to begin a reorganization of the mining industry in which most operations will be either closed or offered to worker cooperatives, and half the 20,000 miners may be fired. More than 7,000 miners have already been dismissed in an attempt to cut huge losses at the state company, which has been devastated by a sharp decline in world prices for tin, the main ore produced in Bolivia. At least 5,000 miners began a 150-mile protest march from the mining town of Oruro to La Paz last week, and they are expected to reach the capital Thursday or Friday.