IN STEREO

The mountain before was in good shape – it was bigger. And now look: the miners are drilling from below; the mountain is sinking down so that they can take out the bars of silver. This is the mountain; it is falling. Imagine how it continues to sink. But they continue to take out the ore below, so it continues to fall – so the mountain may crash any time. Every government that comes in takes the mineral. And there are those who take it at night. These companies, like Sinchi Wayra; there is another company, Manquiri… Those are the ones that most monopolise the minerals. And that’s where they are, carrying it in dump trucks. Those are the ones that are finishing the mountain. And now what are they doing to us – Brazil, the US? They have taken what we have to other places.

They are wanting to take everything away, aren’t they? They want to take away anything and everything from Potosí, but they will not be able to. Why? Because in Potosí there is a lot of ore – too much. The mineral is terrible here below, of course. That is why you go up, to that upside. But who is going to lose? Manquiri, Sinchi Wayra, they’re not going to lose. Why do I say that? Because the government is working on that – the companies give them a percentage. Of course they are grabbing it. Every government that comes in grabs it. And the mountain… Before, it used to be beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. But now it is falling, it is falling, it is falling. I think, “When it falls, what will become of Potosí?” – Doña Carmen