4 Sentenced For Murder of Bolivian Government Minister

4 cooperative miners have been handed jail sentences for their involvement in the murder of Bolivian government minister Rodolfo Illanes in 2016. The 4 were part of anti-government protests against a mining law which they say benefited union miners over ‘cooperative’ ones. 

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On Thursday, Rene Cochi Trujillo, Silvestre Flores Ruiz, Carlos Castro Manuel y Julián Pinto Condori were each handed 5 year jail sentences for their role in the murder of Illanes, Bolivia’s deputy interior minister in Evo Morales’ government.

Illanes had attempted to negotiate with protesters, but was kidnapped and beaten to death.

The 4 men were ‘cooperative’ miners, a form of private commercial mining. They are different from union mine workers who work in the country’s nationalized mines, cooperative miners usually own the mine and operate it among a few ‘partners’ and employ workers who are only paid depending on what they collect rather than a fixed salary.

Cooperative mining in Bolivia is extremely precarious, workers are paid far below what union miners working for the state can expect. The ad-hoc nature of ‘cooperative’ operations often means that there is little to no safety equipment or modern machinery. Poor working conditions and child labor are also rife within the industry. Meanwhile, workers at nationalized mines are given fixed salaries, benefits and modern equipment, with strong labor unions and no child labor.

Cooperative and union miners are frequently in conflict over which side is to have control over certain mines.

The four men who’ve been sentenced were protesting a government law that was to give more mining concessions to the state company COMIBOL, rather than the cooperative sector.

The murder shocked the Andean country and made headlines around the world. Defense minister Reymi Ferreira was the first to confirm the death of Illanes in 2016, Ferreira famously broke into tears whilst live on air as he described the "cowardly and brutal" attack, adding that President Evo Morales had been informed and was "profoundly affected" upon hearing the news, calling the murder 'unforgivable'.