As could be suspected, the southern part of Bolivia is similar to northern Argentina. Green mountains and plenty of life, with small villages bordering the full length of the road. People use every drop of water to grow traditional plants or maintain their flocks of goats and llamas.
In 1545 the Spanish conquerors realized that Cerro Potosí was packed full of silver and other metals. Then started an exploitation as brutal as the rest of Spanish colonization. The city grew at the base of Cerro Potosí, and the mount serves as the frame for all images of this city.
In this picture we can see the monument to Alonso de Ibañez, a native of Spanish ancestors, who fought for Potosí’s independence. In 1617 he was captured and killed by the spaniards, and is considered and honored as the first rebel of the Spanish colonies. In the background we see Cerro Potosí and, at mid altitude, we can see another of the many cathedrals presiding over the pillaging and crimes of the Spanish invaders.
Potosí is a beautiful city, with a colonial layout, narrow streets and walkways, balconies with flowers, colorful buildings plus the dresses of the people.
On April 1 they celebrate the foundation of their city and through the city marched hundreds of students with their music bands. The private school guys all dressed on their school uniform, while the public school use the standard white coverall similar to those used in Argentina. The uniforms are very formal and seem to be very expensive.
It seems that people is proud of their city and its customs. They are kind wth the tourists and they make you feel comfortable walking the streets.
We visited the mint house used since early colonial times. At the entrance there is a big patio showing a big mask made by a french man but the museum guides could not explain its true meaning and the twisted smile in its face.
The first coining machines were brought from Spain. They were humongous wooden devices activated by muscle power: mules, indian slaves and African slaves. To extract the silver from the mineral they used mercury brought from Huancavélica, Perú, and it was handled without any caution or protection. The workers in charge of this process were constantly exposed to mercury fumes and they died, blind and poisoned, after some three months on the job. The entire mining and processing procedure was bestial and inhumane.
The museum only admit guided visits, and it called my attention the lack of critical analysis on the part of the museum guides, considering the mayor drama carried away in the area. The extraction of silver from the mine took some 8,5 million lives, and I think that it should deserve more than passing comments from the guides in order for the tourists to understand the real magnitude of the tragedy.
Inside the museum there is a display,not very large, of objects made with silver mined in Potosí. Personally I saw I real life size carriage entirely made of silver in one of the churches in Burgos, Spain. The immediate questions would be ‘Were Spanish people aware of the real costs of that silver? ‘Would they care?’
Finally, it called our attention the number of civilian music bands, marching with military steps and blasting their music through the city center. One of them carried banners reminiscent of the infamous ultra-right Argentinian organization “Tradición, Familia y Propiedad”, with calls to the honor and discipline of their members, something that resembled the marching of European fascists youth in times not long gone. One cannot less than question the value of these organizations and think whether their ideology is a consequence of the country’s poverty or, on the contrary, their poverty is a consequence of such ideologies.
SUCRE
We were not planning to visit Sucre but we made a quick decision and only assigned one afternoon to visit this wonderful place. It is a typical colonial Spanish city, with a central plaza surrounded by churches and government offices. Contrary to the organic growth shown by Potosí’s streets, Sucre shows a well planned development following the Spanish colonial tradition, a well aligned square grid of streets.
Freedom House is a museum located in the same place where they signed the independence of Bolivia. It is well preserved and with an abundance of historic documents. It shows how the Alto Peru played a mayor role in the process of liberation from the Spanish rule. It is sad that the history taught in Argentinian schools doesn’t show more clearly how much we owe to the Bolivian and Peruvian patriots’ for their support and efforts during the liberation campaign.
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