Huanuni, Boliva - March 12th 2017

Solidarity with the miners of La Escondida (Chile) from the miner's district Huanuni (Bolivia)

Comrades miners of La Escondida,

We send you our warm revolutionary greetings from the mining district Huanuni and also we stress our deepest solidarity with the huge struggle you have started.
We are kindly surprised with the news of you confronting the a big transnational mining company such as BHP Billiton, paralyzing the production of the biggest reserve of copper of Chile, Latin America and the world, as a great example of how to confront the exploiters.
Just as you, we fought in 2001 against the British transnational company Allied Deals, and it was expelled from our mining district. This company was taken over by us and we worked over 4 years to take care of all the production and the management of the company, keeping the jobs of 800 comrades, making it more profitable.
In 2003-05 we were present in La Paz (the city where the government is) shedding blood with the people of El Alto to defend our gas, imposing a general strike in the entire Bolivia until we achieved the exit of the transnational companies' government of Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada.
After years of resolute fight of the workers and the entire district, and with the solidarity of all the workers of the country we achieved the nationalization of the company in 2006 and over 4000 workers got hired. It was the biggest company with 5000 workers.
Just as it happened with us, the Chilean people has to march in full support to the comrades of La Escondida to impose renationalization of copper without compensation and placing it under workers control, for free education and health to be achieved, for decent work and for the profits of production, the effort of the workers, to stay in Chile for the benefit of all the Chilean exploited.
In these moments we see all the Latin American governments embraced to the transnational companies that plunder our natural resources, like Evo Morales in Bolivia, who is still firing workers all around the country, threatening to close the mines while the transnational companies are making huge profits.
We know that with the money the transnational companies that plunder our gas and minerals we could guarantee a decent life for our families. Only workers can provide a solution to the problems we have because "the liberation of the workers will be done by the workers themselves".
The comrades of Marikana (South Africa) in 2012 stood up and showed us the way with their heroic struggle against the transnational companies and their lackeys of the South African government, also confronting the trade union bureaucracy and then the murderous police took the life of 34 miners.
The Peruvian miners are also rising paralyzing the second reserves of copper of the world, placed in Cerro Verde in Arequipa. Among the transnational companies there, there is the Japanese Sumitomo, the same one plundering the Bolivian mine in San Cristobal, Potosi. This is how we confront our enemy, which is the same enemy.
We make a call for the workers of the world to march in support of the miners of Chile and Peru. We also make a call to our unions and federations to show their support.
For the transnational companies to get out from Latin America! Out with the transnational companies' lackey governments!
Cheers and struggle! We are with you, because we are a single class and a single struggle, with no barriers of nationality.

J.T., S.N., F.O.S., R.M., L.V.
Rank and file workers of Huanuni Mining Company