Word: siglo
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...Presidents René Barrientos and Alfredo Ovando Candia. Last May the two generals drew up a harsh but workable plan to rehabilitate the mines, then sent troops into action when the miners rebelled. Last week new fighting broke out at the country's most troublesome mine, the Catavi-Siglo Veinte complex, 175 miles southeast...
...mines blared a call to revolt, some-1,000 army troops marched into the town of Oruro, killing six miners in a two-hour pitched battle. Another 2,500 soldiers captured four union strongholds in the mining districts and moved to within H miles of the huge Cat-avi-Siglo Veinte complex, where thousands of well-armed miners had barricaded themselves. At that point, the miners requested a 48-hour truce. Barrientos insisted on unconditional surrender. He then summarily canceled all union wage increases granted since last Aug. 31, 1964, and gave the Comibol state mining company freedom to hire...
Thus ended ten days of imprisonment in the dingy tin miners' union hall at Siglo, Veinte, 135 miles from the Bolivian capital of La Paz. Until the end, there was no certainty that the men - pawns in a power struggle between Bolivia's moderate President Victor Paz Estenssoro and its leftist Vice President Juan Lechin - would get out alive. Even after Lechin backed down, many of the rebellious miners whom he leads seemed in a mood to set off a civil war in the bleak Andean nation. They demanded that Lechin appear personally before them to explain...
Grudging Hands. A fine drizzle fell over the 14,000-ft.-high plateau as Lechin arrived at Siglo Veinte. With him were the Archbishop of La Paz, U.S. Consul Charles Thomas, TIME Correspondent Gavin Scott, and six other newsmen. A mine siren sounded, and 3,500 grimy miners gathered in front of the union hall. Many of them were in an ugly mood. "Down with the stooges of Yankee imperialism," they chanted. "To the wall! To the wall!" A note of urgent pleading in his voice, Lechin told them that President Paz Estenssoro had promised a fair trial...
Lechin used the kind of argument he thought would be effective in such a tense situation. The Bolivian government and the Yankees in Washington didn't care if the hostages died; in fact it would provide an excuse to attack Siglo Veinte. Three thousand government troops were nine miles away; there would be much bloodshed. Naturally, said Lechin, he put little faith in the government's promises. "I have my doubts about this agreement. But the fact is that the life of this community is at stake." At last, with a grudging show of hands the miners voted...