In Bolivia, in the bowels of Potosí, El Cerro Rico, the mine od devil, miners have been keeping for centuries to break the rock with hands and rudimentary tools, chewing coca leaves 10 hours a day, for a monthly salary of US$100 …
Galleries are pervaded by a deadly cocktail of thin air mixed with toxic gases. Inside the wells, in addtion, tempartues from below 0C, in the vicinity of surface, come to exceed 45C degrees of deeper levels. It is estimated that, in the three centu of intensive use, the silver miner of Cerro Rico have led to the death of eight million Indians And African slaves.