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18-622: Apart from the Catavi-Siglo XX mining complex; it refers as well to a residential area, to a mill processing ore and to an administrative office of the Corporación Minera de Bolivia (COMIBOL). It was acquired in the 1900s by Simón Iturri Patiño , who was dubbed the "King of Tin." It was the site of continual labor strife, and many of its workers were active in the Union Federation of Bolivian Mine Workers (FSTMB). The mining camp kept

36-691: A lack of reserves, a lack of administrative capacity, and an excess of workers. At the same time, the government used COMIBOL to generate cheap foreign currency and financial resources. For example, in 1956, COMIBOL contributed 30 million dollars to the Corporación Boliviana de Fomento  [ es ] and 10 million to YPFB. It's estimated that during the government of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement in this period, COMIBOL transferred more than 100 million dollars to YPFB. The relative importance of COMIBOL's export values

54-677: A lower level than before 1985. The COMIBOL archives are housed at the Catavi mine . In 2017, the Gerencia Nacional Recursos Evaporíticos was moved from under COMIBOL and the Ministry of Mining, coming under the purview of the Empresa Pública Nacional Estratégica de Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos  [ es ] , which depends on the Ministry of Energy. Due to its high mineral content, Huanuni

72-567: Is a Bolivian state-owned enterprise dedicated to the exploration, exploitation, refining, industrialization, distribution and commercialization of oil , natural gas and derived products. It was created on December 21, 1936 under a government decree during the presidency of David Toro . YPFB is one of the biggest corporations in Bolivia . Following Bolivia's defeat in the Chaco War , public outrage against Standard Oil coalesced with outrage against

90-533: Is a major Bolivia n state company that oversees the nation's mining operations. In the decades after the Bolivian National Revolution , it became the country's largest and most important public company. After a period of inactivity following the 1985 Bolivian economic crisis, COMIBOL was revived in 2006 and today holds an important, if diminished, place in the country's economy. COMIBOL was created by Supreme Declaration 3196 on October 2, 1952. It

108-586: The Catavi Massacre . The mine was nationalized following the "Bolivian National Revolution" of 1952, when the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) and its allies overthrew the military junta . Catavi and other mines were placed under the control of a new state agency, the Corporación Minera de Bolivia (COMIBOL). The Catavi-Siglo XX complex became the largest component of COMIBOL, employing some 5,000 workers. On June 24, 1967, government troops under

126-595: The IMF and World Bank , the government shut down production at Catavi. 18°25′00″S 66°38′00″W  /  18.4166666667°S 66.6333333333°W  / -18.4166666667; -66.6333333333 This article about a specific mine is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Potosí Department location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Corporaci%C3%B3n Minera de Bolivia The Corporación Minera de Bolivia (Mining Corporation of Bolivia), also known as COMIBOL ,

144-572: The Bolivian military and political classes. A core of labor movements and Chaco War veterans backed the political rise of military officers, included Colonel David Toro. Led by Toro, Bolivia followed the Argentinean model by creating a national, state-owned and run, oil company in 1936 — YPFB. During the first presidency of Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada , YPFB was broken up and largely sold off. "Capitalized" oil companies were formed from YPFB properties under

162-602: The Empresa Metalúrgica de Vinto. The history of COMIBOL is intimately linked to Bolivia's development process. Its foundations were the transfer to the state of 163 mines owned across 13 companies by the state's mining barons, Patiño, Hochschild, and Aramayo, which had a labor force of 29,000 people and a total production of 27,000 metric tons of tin. During the Bolivian National Revolution, from 1952 to 1964, COMIBOL suffered from declining mineral content,

180-401: The administration of these operations. COMIBOL was the principal Bolivian public company for many decades after its creation, being the country's main source of foreign currency and its biggest employer. It played an important role in the capitalization of YPFB from the 1950s to '70s. As of November 2014, COMIBOL was the country's third-largest public company based on revenue, after YPFB and

198-451: The capitalization ( privatization ) reform. The biggest parts of YPFB, including existing oil and gas infrastructure, went to Chaco S.A., owned in part by Amoco (and later, British Petroleum and Argentine capital operating as Bridas ). The companies were owned 80 percent by direct private investors and 20 percent by all the citizens of Bolivia over the age of 21 and resident in Bolivia. This

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216-596: The efficiency and profitability of the Empresa Minera Huanuni. The high price of tin has increased interest in exploitation within the mine. Today, there are around 4,500 workers at Huanuni, including 2,000 on the surface. In 2006, competition over the riches veins almost led to a fight between cooperative miners and those employed by the state. In the end, the government opted to hired the cooperative workers as employees, increasing COMIBOL's payroll. YPFB Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos ( YPFB )

234-571: The largely indigenous workforce in rigidly segregated conditions, away from the American managerial staff; housing, water supplies, shops, transport, entertainment, and bathrooms were all segregated. This division in daily life contributed to a climate of tension between Bolivian workers and foreign management. During a labor dispute between miners and management in December 1942, the striking miners at Patiño's Catavi mine were massacred by government troops in

252-534: The orders of General René Barrientos and a new military junta marched on the mine and committed the largest massacre of workers in Bolivian history. The massacre occurred on St John the Baptist's Day, an indigenous winter solstice holiday, hence it became known as the San Juan Massacre . Over the following decades, the tin deposits in the mine become exhausted. In 1987, as part of an economic restructuring deal with

270-476: Was also the case with the capitalizations of the other four principal state-owned companies. YPFB remained at that time as a state-owned service company for the hydrocarbon sector. Since the election of president Evo Morales , the privatized oil companies have been partially nationalized. All its subsidiaries operate as private companies, most of which trade on the Bolivian Stock Exchange , but YPFB and

288-448: Was founded ahead of the nationalization of the Patiño , Hochschild , and Aramayo mines on October 31 by the government of Víctor Paz Estenssoro , in the context of the Bolivian National Revolution . The businesses of the three nationalized mining groups were initially reorganized into 16 mining companies exploiting tin, lead, silver, zinc, tungsten, copper, and gold, with COMIBOL overseeing

306-417: Was in permanent decline. Since Bolivia's 1985 economic crisis and the institution of Supreme Decree 21060 , the value of exports from small and mid-sized mining, as a percentage of the total value of exports, overtook that of COMIBOL. It became effectively paralyzed between 1986 and 2005, with its activities extremely limited. In 2006, the company was reactivated and resumed its productive capacity, though at

324-540: Was the only COMIBOL mine that did not close in 1985, after the tin market crisis and Supreme Decree 21060 . It was exploited as a joint venture until 2006, when it was retaken by COMIBOL. A large part of the technology used in Huanuni is from the 1970s. Owing to the richness of its minerals, it is more mechanized than other mines in Bolivia. The government is constructing a new refinery in Dolores, near Huanuni, that should improve

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