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Vol. 75/No. 6      February 14, 2011

 
Two mine blasts kill
26 workers in Colombia
 
BY SETH GALINSKY  
At least 26 workers were killed recently in two coal mine explosions in Colombia less than a week apart. This follows 173 miners who died there in 2010, a record number. More than 530 miners have been killed in Colombia in the last seven years. The deaths come as bosses have more than doubled coal production in the past decade—putting profits above miners’ lives.

In the latest explosion five miners died February 1 at La Escondida mine in the state of Cundinamarca, north of Bogotá. Daniel Mendoza, a lawyer for the miners and their relatives, told the media that a power outage the day before left the mine without ventilation. But the company ordered miners to work the day after the power was restored without first ventilating the mine.

On January 26 a methane gas explosion killed 21 miners at La Preciosa (the precious) mine near the Venezuelan border. According to El Espectador, the funeral for the miners was attended by thousands of working people from the surrounding mountain region. At the cemetery Sara Velosa, wife of Nelson Velosa, one of the dead miners, shouted out, “Close the mine. It’s not precious, it’s the death mine.”

A miner interviewed by Colombian television said that several hours before the blast, monitors showed dangerous concentrations of methane gas, but supervisors ordered miners to keep working. Asked why the miners didn’t leave, he replied, “The company suspends us if we leave the mine without their permission.”

The rescue effort was delayed in part because “there weren’t even any stretchers to get the wounded out,” another miner told the press.

This is not the first mine explosion at La Preciosa, which employed 110 workers. In 2007 a similar explosion killed 31 miners there. The government allowed the company to rapidly reopen the mine.

Colombia is the largest coal producer in Latin America and the fifth largest exporter in the world after Indonesia, Australia, Russia, and South Africa. Colombia also has the largest open-pit mine in the world, El Cerrejón, owned by foreign corporations.

Some 298,000 miners work at 6,000 mines that operate with government permits and another 3,000 “illegal mines” that often use antiquated machinery and equipment. There are only 16 government mine inspectors for the entire country. Both La Escondida and La Preciosa had operating permits.

La Preciosa is reportedly owned by a Colombian capitalist. U.S.-based Drummond Corporation, Switzerland-based Glencore International, Australian-based BHP Billiton Ltd, and Swiss-based Xstrata PLC dominate the export of Colombian coal. Coal prices have risen more than 60 percent since 2004 when the Colombian government closed the state-owned coal company and instead encouraged private investment.

Meanwhile, unionists at the El Cerrejón open-pit coal mine voted to authorize a strike after negotiations broke down January 27. Workers are demanding a 9 percent wage increase.
 
Related articles:
Canada: Steelworkers rally to defend pensions
Locked-out Honeywell workers fight for safety
N.Y. union strikes over company’s ‘disrespect’  
 
 
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