11,313
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
* Peter McFarren, "U.S. Troops Arrive for Drug Operation," The Associated Press, July 17, 1986.
SW: →1985 Presidency: add info
== 1985 Presidency ==
=== Shock Therapy ===
=== Miners Laid Off ===
Within the first year of the Paz Estenssoro presidency, 8,000 miners were laid off or paid $500 to retire early.<ref>Kathryn Leger, "Bolivian miners stage hunger strikes to protest mine closures," Christian Science Monitor, September 17, 1986.</ref> One year later, the government announced mine closings as part of a plan to restructure the state mining company. The price of tin had fallen from $5.50 a pound to $2.50 a pound in the last year, and the government said it could not afford to continue operating the mines or paying the miners' salaries of $30 per month. On August 28, 1986, as more than 7000 miners and their supporters headed for La Paz in a 142-mile protest march, President Paz declared a "state of seige." "The military was called in to prevent the marchers from reaching La Paz. Some were arrested and taken to jungle internment camps. Others were returned home by truck."<ref>Kathryn Leger, "Bolivian miners stage hunger strikes to protest mine closures," Christian Science Monitor, September 17, 1986.</ref> In response, on September 9, some 2000 miners went on a hunger strike. The pledged to continue the strike until the mine leaders were released from prison. Many laid off miners and their families moved to the Chapare region, where the economy revolves around producing [[coca]] for cocaine.
=== Drug War ===
At the time, Bolivia's Interior Minister, Fernando Barthelemy, was quoted as saying "growing fewer of the coca leaves from which the drug is produced could have serious results for the shattered Bolivian economy, which has become dependent on the illegal cocaine trade" because "cocaine brings in at least $450 million a year, about the same amount as legal exports."<ref name="APJan1086"/> In the last three years, the population of Chapare had doubled to 80,000 people.<ref name="APJan1184">Peter McFarren, "Officials Say Fewer Than 100 Farmers Persist In Siege," The Associated Press, January 11, 1986.</ref>
== Articles and Resources ==
