Striking Bolivian miners kidnapped and beat to death the nation’s deputy interior minister who had travelled to the region to mediate on a bitter dispute.
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“We saw the lifeless body of Deputy Minister Illanes”, Moises Flores, director of a mining radio station, told a local radio outlet.
Bolivian miners have a long tradition of radical activism, leading revolutions and bringing down dictators. “I am being held by the comrades, I have not received any mistreatment”, Illanes has told a reporter earlier. Around 100 people have been arrested so far, he added, promising that the “crime will not go unpunished”.
Illanes had visited the area of the protests early on Thursday to attempt to negotiate but was kidnapped by miners.
The miners, who have been on strike for weeks, have blockaded a highway 80 miles south of La Paz since Monday, The Associated Press says, stranding thousands of passengers and vehicles.
Defence Minister Reymi Ferreira broke down on television as he described how Illanes, appointed to his post in March, had apparently been “beaten and tortured to death”.
The miners have been protesting against a law allowing them to join trade unions.
There was initially doubt that Mr Illanes had been killed after he said that he was safe and well in a recorded message.
The authorities could not for the moment retrieve his body, the minister said.
Bolivian President Evo Morales nationalized the natural resources sector, including natural gas, which provides the country with half of its exports, after coming to power in 2006.
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Interior Minister, Carlos Romero, confirmed on Friday that reports by witnesses indicated that the 55-year-old was beaten to death following clashes between police and miners in the town of Panduro, 165 kilometres south-east of La Paz. At least two workers were killed after shots were fired by police. The latter have blocked for several days a major road in the country to demand more mining concessions and less stringent environmental regulations, enabling them to work for private companies and be better represented by unions.
