Angry striking miners in Bolivia on Thursday hacked the Deputy Interior Minister to death during a clash with the police in the town of Panduro.
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Mr Illanes was “savagely beaten” to death by the striking miners, defence minister Reymi Ferreira told Red Uno television, his voice breaking.
Minister of Government Carlos Romero said that Illanes had gone to talk to the demonstrators, but was kidnapped by the striking miners.
Protests turned violent this week after two workers were killed on Wednesday after shots were fired by police.
The National Federation of Mining Co-operatives of Bolivia, once strong allies of President Morales, began what they said would be an indefinite protest after negotiations failed.
Miners now represented by independently organized cooperatives have been using street blockades to protest against a law allowing them to join trade unions.
The afternoon, however, brought clashes between the miners and the police, with the miners accusing the officers of shooting live rounds.
He also had multiple broken ribs and puncturing of his skull, Guerrero said in a statement. Government reports said he died from being struck several times in the head. Miners say Morales has become a shill of the rich, and done little to help them make ends meet as the economy slows. He called for three days of official mourning, criticized the “cowardly attitude” of the protesters and insisted that his government had “always been open” to negotiation. His body was found in the early morning by the side of the highway that connects La Paz with the city of Oruro, wrapped in a blanket, said Edwin Blanco, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.
Independent cooperatives represent the protesters, who reject the influence of unions and want foreign companies to be able to invest in the cooperatives.
He added that the miners had planned to entrench themselves at the roadblocks they had established and that documents confiscated from the offices of the cooperative miners mention “overthrowing the government”.
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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.
