the devil is staying in the mountains.word

Paneque �1

Agustín Paneque

Professor Grandin

Acquisition of Resources in the Americas

11/28/14

The Devil is Staying in the Mountains

Introduction

“All that glitters is not gold.”

It seems as the decades have past the Western world has turned its back on Latin America. As

Professor Greg Grandin states in an interview on GRITtv, “Latin America seems to forget

nothing but the United States remembers nothing”. The cultural trends and plights of these

countries and cultures has become of little importance to growing American generations who

view much of South America as lawless lands that are only good for their affiliation with FIFA

and for production. El Cerro in Potosí Bolivia stands as a perfect example of the decline of

global importance in our Southern counterparts and why the western world should turn their eyes

to the historic and current ongoing struggles of South American countries for their own

edification.

In Potosí Bolivia today there is destitution, one could easily argue that this condition is due to

excessive precapitalist and servile labor in the mining industry of El Cerro, which began with the

Spanish imperialist colonization of the region in the early 16th century. The Potosíans today are

Paneque �2

still physically and mentally linked to their historical connection to the mountain of El Cerro

which still continues to arduously support many of the inhabitants of the region.

These inhabitants also thrive on what may seem to the Western world to be peculiar

spiritualistic and religious practices. Many of these idiosyncratic myths, faiths, and symbols are

centered in either Catholicism or Pre-colonial pagan naturalistic deities such as, Pachamama and

Supay. These concepts, phenomenon, and ways of life are intrinsically connected to the society

within Potosí and the Andean way of life in the region.

The most interesting and perhaps one could argue the most vibrantly displayed and

“cherished” deity of the region, if one could call the phenomenon such, is El Tío. El Tío is a

mixture of the pagan figure Supay and the Christian representations of the Devil. This mixture is

coupled with the metaphysical barrier created by Bolivia’s proletariate class in dealing with the

strife and consequences associated with the local mining industry, commodity fetishism, and

imperialism. It may seem from first glance that this folkloric symbol of a devil has no connection

to the practice of silver mining in El Cerro and imperialism in Potosí.

However, this figure is deeply embedded in the history of imperialism in Potosí, the

mining society, and Potosían cultural spiritualism as a paternalistic figure of death. The demonic

figure of El Tío ironically also stands as a symbol of hope for the predominantly Catholic and

heavily ritualistic people of Potosí which in itself forms quite the array of paradoxes. The most

fascinating aspect of El Tío however, is the way in which Potosíans and especially the mining

class in Potosí have to this day continued to maintain a relationship with the phenomenon

through ritualistic sacrifice and idolatry.

Paneque �3

Many scholars such as June C. Nash, believe that most of these more dated methods of

worship and spiritualism found in colonized regions such as Bolivia undergo changes. These

changes Nash believes are brought upon by development and its association with the transition in

to modernity and economic rises and declines that are linked to such a change. Essentially, El Tío

in the eyes of some scholars is just a step in the evolution of changing spiritual trends that shift

with the passage of time and crucial events.

Michael Taussig a leading anthropologist and myself would beg to differ however,

sharing a view that El Tío is inherently connected to the society as a guise to deal with the fact

that Potosíans have not only lost control over their leading method of production but also let their

leading method of production control them. First, this scholarship hopes to display a deeper 1

anthropological and historical knowledge of El Tío and illuminate upon the roots of this symbol.

Second this scholarship hopes to support an opinion contrary to Nash, by exhibiting the ways in

which El Tío is an essential element of Potosían life that is quite permanent, at least as a social

structure. El Tío has come to symbolize more than just a temporal counter culture trend, today it

represents the ongoing trials and tribulations of an entire region and the aspirations of the

laboring class within this region, just as one could argue, it has in the past. Thus in essence, I

hope to provide evidence that displays that El Tío will continue to remain static for some time

(unless a great reversal in the society occurs or El Cerro falls) due its staunch nature and purpose

within Potosí as a social or one could say metaphysical construction that arose through the

formation of this commodity frontier.

Colonial Beginnings

pg 17 Michael Taussig, Commodity Fetishism and the Devil in South America1

Paneque �4

“This lofty mountain of silver could conquer the whole world” 2

Potosí Bolivia was put on the map by 1545 because of the region’s wealth of resources in

the mountainous region El Cerro or as many call it The Mountain that Eats Men. In a matter of a

few decades, colonization completely transformed and reorganized the whole region in to a

production society. Due to the mandatory public labor system mita (forced labor for a set amount

of time) native people of the area were explicitly forced in great numbers (50,000- 60,000 annual

labor migrations) to labor in the depths of El Cerro. This migrant proletariat class formed large 3

societies within the outlying region of the mines that still exist today. During the beginnings of

colonial rule in Potosí, as resource extraction revenue began to steadily increase in proportion to

the amount of consistent laborers, the mita and local native populations on the mountainside

became completely intertwined with El Cerro’s mining industry.

El Cerro became the leading producer in both the New World and the globe in silver,

while also being greatly involved with production of other minerals such as tin. Primarily

because of the region’s economic potential, Potosí became a world renowned location and the

largest silver boomtown on the planet. In 1610 with 160,000 residents, Potosí’s population was

larger than Amsterdam (80,000), London (130,000), Sevila and Venice (150,000). Citizens from 4

Jason Moore, “This lofty mountain of silver could conquer the whole world”: Potosí and the political the 2

whole world”: Potosí and the political ecology of underdevelopment, 1545-1800[1] ecology of underdevelopment, 1545-1800



Bakewell, P.J. (1975) ‘Registered silver production in the Potosí district,1550-1735’, Jahrbuch fur Geschichte von Staat, Wirtschaft und GesselschaftLateinamerikas, 12, 67-103

Paneque �5

all over the world ventured to the region to bask in the once all encompassing imperialistic riches

of the Spanish domain. El Cerro stands at an altitude that is 160,000 feet higher than Mont Blanc,

the tallest peaks in the Alps and thus it became figuratively and nearly literally considered, “the

top of the world”. 5

As this imperial fame increased, so too did the rapid decline of the region’s ability to

maintain it’s status as a commodity frontier. Between 1554 and 15557 the ironically moral

theologian Bartolomé de Medina came to an astounding discovery about the only naturally liquid

metal mercury’s ability to, “dissolve many metals especially, gold, silver and tin”. With this new 6

invented usage of mercury, production of pure metallic silver in liquid form became part of the

mining industry in El Cerro. This chemical invention boosted the efficiency of mineral extraction

by nearly 500%. “ The extraction of silver from the region thus became increasingly more rapid 7

and efficient for the Bolivian miners, along with the profits of-course.

However, the mining industry did not either consider or care about an important fact in its

undertaking, that the amount of silver in El Cerro was finite. Thus, the imperialist labor system

was quickly eliminating the supply of silver within mountain range. By the late 1560’s, the yield

of Potosían ore fell 98 percent from two decades earlier. Potosí’s position as a world power and 8

haven of wealth came to a halting stop around 1640. By 1693 the colonizers were nowhere 9

Lewis Hanke, Arzan’s History of Potosí, Brown University Press 19655

Corey Malcom, Mercury on a Galleon6

Corey Malcom, Mercury on a Galleon7

Cobb Gwendolin (1947) Potosí and Huancavelica, Ph.D. dissertation Department of History, University 8

of California, Berkley.



Paneque �6

nearly able to extract and refine the minerals, predominantly silver with adequate sufficiency and

speed to upkeep their desired global image and fame. Thus in many regards, the beginnings of 10

the fall of industry and social cohesion in Potosí came economically. Jerome O. Nriagu’s

Mercury pollution from the past mining of gold and silver in the Americas, notes on statistics of

the decline of Bolivia as a global silver producer with period average percentages, “1493-1600

48%, 1601-1700 36%, 1701-1800 12%, 1801-1850 9.5%” 11

Damages “The Mountain of Silver itself had a magical effect on the Potosians and turned all those who

lived in its shadow in to fearless, restless, and revolutionary men.” 12

There is no doubt that the existence of the seemingly fictitious myth of El Tió is rooted in

this boomtown’s destruction of local community and ecological well-being. As the ecologically

and politically concentrated scholar Jason Moore wrote of the turmoil in Potosí, there is a

causation between the progression of an industry and the cost needed to fund such an industry. In

the case of Potosí, it is this phenomenon that exhausted both ends of resource necessities needed

to fund the mining enterprise. This causation made the need for cheaper labor and necessary

resources increasingly paramount and increasingly volatile.

The mining industry in El Cerro was a global enterprise and thus an all encompassing

resource extraction venture with hefty necessities including: livestock, various grasses, dung,

Rosie Marie Buechler, Gobierno, Minera, y Sociedad 10

pg173 Jerome O. Nriagu, Mercury pollution from the past mining of gold and the Americas11

pg 25 Lewis Hanke, Arzan’s History of Potosí12

Paneque �7

coal (lumber), and mercury. Without these materials, such a large scale extraction of higher tier 13

materials (silvers) would never have been possible. The extraction of these materials however,

left the surrounding ecosystem relatively barren and destroyed much of the prized forest

landscapes of the region. Mercury the prime resource in extracting silver played a large role in

not only poisoning the surrounding lands of El Cerro, but also in poisoning employees and their

families by association with the compound through community and location. Jason Moore

writes, “There were, to be sure, many terrible environmental consequences of this revolution—

deforestation, soil erosion, mercury poisoning, rising malnutrition, and so on.” 14

This ecological destruction was coupled with increasingly hazardous pursuits by the

heads of the mining industry in pushing their laborers further and further in to more dangerous

territories within El Cerro. This labor push obviously was not greeted with the same amount of

ease as the mita was when the industry was at it’s height of power. Local communities began to

rise up and thievery became prevalent in Potosí due to the fact that there was very little business

outside of the fields of trading and working with resource extraction in the area. June C. Nash 15

comments on this emerging rebellion, “the turbulence of a society holding onto its traditions at

the same time that it was trying to come to grips with an imposed system of exploitation” With 16

the mining industry growing in difficulty and the destruction of the ecological foundations of the





Rosie Marie Buechler, Gobierno, Minera, y Sociedad15

June C. Nash, We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us16

Paneque �8

region, tensions between the labor force and the Spanish crown grew. “Riches from gold and

silver only lead to jealousy, conflict and war”. 17

The Potosíans were prolific inventors of diversions to counteract their suffering, such as

floats, dances, alters, and games. The most esteemed public methods of group festivities were 18

las corridas de toros de la semana de Carnaval and Día de Compadres y Comadres. Alcoholism 19

also became a prevalent problem in Potosí, along with rampant gambling inside and outside of

industry. This grew the division of opinion on Potosí as a respectable land of opulence and a 20

land of sin and thievery.

These mixtures of suffering and entertainment or poverty versus enterprise had both

reached world leading peaks. Thus quite the paradoxical society was created and steep divisions

between the colonist class and the proletariat class were formed. Construction of Baroque

Catholic churches during this destructive time in the history of Potosí caused an increase in

piousness within the Potosían proletariat class in the Catholic Church, which gave the Spanish

crown heightened religious power in the region. One of the three existing theories (one theory 21

coming from the mines, one from the Spaniards, and one from the Potosíans) about the creation

of El Tío comes directly from these tensions and this rise in regional affiliation with Christianity.

The Roots of Idolatry

pg 159 Salomon Kroonberg, Why Hell Stinks of Sulfur17

pg 310, Rosie Marie Buechler, Gobierno, Minera, y Sociedad18



pg 35 Lewis Hanke, Arzan’s History of Potosí21

Paneque �9

“Now riddled with tunnels, the mountain is a death trap for the men and boys who work there -

and who pray to the devil to keep them safe.” 22

A knowledgable mining mentor in Potosí remarks on the later colonial time period,

stating how there have always been deaths in El Cerro and that today there have been

approximately eight million deaths within the mines. He goes on to say, that during the decline 23

of the labor system, the workers wanted a change in the regulation of their occupation and more

freedom from the rule of the colonial power. He continues to says that in response to this 24

rebelliousness, the Spanish crown instituted a rule involving the creation of a statue of the devil

on the parameter of El Cerro. The rule was that the figure stood as a representations of suffering

and hell, and that if the workers did not obey the rules of the mine and continue producing silver;

they would face the wrath of the statue. 25

The Spanish crown needed a name for this idol and turned to the term Dios meaning God

but the Andean language was unfamiliar with the usage of the letter D, thus the Spanish turned

Dios in to Tio and ultimately, El Tío. Though it is quite likely that a mixture of existing theories 26

play in to the existence of El Tío today, this theory in particular undoubtedly parallels the

identification of El Tío as the paternalistic keeper and “boss” of the mines. The theory also truly

assimilates well with the limited historical description of Spanish rule being centered on

Cathraina Moh, BBC News22

The Devil’s Miner23




Paneque �10

establishing a system of power in Potosí within the 16th century and focusing on maintaining

this power during struggles in the 17th century. Thus the common exterior conception of El Tío

as an idol that limits the mobility of the mining class and creates a facade of supernatural power

within the mines, is at least in part displayed and explained by the phenomenon of El Tío today

being linked back to this specific root.

The second theory on the creation of El Tío has more to do with the psychological effects

of working in the mines as a proletariat laborer. In Salomon Kroonenberg’s Why Hell Stinks of

Sulfur: Mythology and Geneology of the Underworld, Kroonenberg illuminates on key aspects of

mining that have the ability to distort the perceptions and beliefs of individuals partaking in the

industry. Mining is no easy undertaking, it requires as Kroonenberg remarks knowledge of the

mineralogical, medical, architectural, legal, and astronomical aspects and intricacies of

underground resource extraction. These traits are of course coupled with the courage necessary

to take the risk of dealing with the damaging respiratory environments or on site accidents.

Kroonenberg brings up a more biological root of El Tío in analyzing the more sensory aspects of

minings and its influence on cognition. Especially in the case of an Andean rooted myth this is

important due to the intense connection between Andean culture and natural phenomenon.

“There are countless hells... all divided and regulated with the utmost exactness and

congruity’, some on top of the other, and ‘communicating with one another... There are hells

‘under every mountain, hill, rock, plain and valley.’” Prior to doing my research my mind 27

harkened back to the fact that all of the limited but still plentiful folklores, religions, and myths I

know of, associate the underground of course with the Underworld and that this may have it’s

pg172 Salomon Kroonenberg, Why Hell Stinks of Sulfur27

Paneque �11

roots in the creation of El Tío. In Why Hell Stinks of Sulfur: Mythology and Geology of the

Underworld, it seems that Kroonenberg agrees with this assertion by focusing his main argument

on the correlation between geology and mythology. Krooberg also remarks on the dangers of

occupations in underground terrains. On site accidents are commonly associated with

supernatural forces and the shine of minerals could Krooberg states, confuse miners in to

thinking false values and lead individuals in to greedy endeavors, resulting in their own demises.

28

Within this region as well, both the Spaniards and the natives had a habit of creating

mythical phenomenon from seemingly peculiar natural phenomenon. The Spanish unknowingly

perceived rainforest creatures as Andean giants, griffins, and other mythological beasts. 29

Potosían natives also were intrinsically linked to nature, attributing natural objects such as plants

with the deity of life, the Pachamama and structures such as mountains with Supay, the deity of

death. Thus this unusual environment itself might have been a potential cause in creating this

psychologically perceived figure within this particular occupation.

Kroonenberg last describes how in 1590, the Spanish Jesuit José de Acosta wrote a

history of Cerro Rico titled, Historia natural y moral de las Indias. Within this history it is 30

stated that the native indians never mined from the mountains due to voice telling them not to

touch the minerals because they belonged to others. Kroonenberg also writes of the story of 31

Ciriaco Limachi, a poverty stricken individual who descends deeper in to the mines of El Cerro


Lewis Hanke, Arzan’s History of Potosí29



Paneque �12

and ends up making a pact with El Tío for riches, which he received in excess. Until one day, the

man disappeared and the mines became sterile. 32

Even in modernity fables of encounters with El Tío are still prevalent. Zarissa W.‘s About

the Boy Who Got Left Behind, covers a more saddening tale that underscores the plight of the

Potosían society and El Tío’s relevance today by becoming a major part of the thematic music

video La La La ft Sam Smith by British artist Naughty Boy. The story is about the 19th century

Bolivian legend of a abused deaf boy with the power to alleviate people’s pain by screaming.

The story begins with a young boy escaping an abusive home and finding a canine

companion who leads the boy to use his magical scream to save two individuals, an old man

being stoned by villagers and a leper cursed by El Tío for not worshiping the idol. El Tío in the

legend is said to release a noise that compels any who hear it to become cursed and die by falling

victim his influence in the mountain and the desert outside it. Thus only the boy can enter the

mines to use his power against El Tío’s voice. In the end, the boy leaves his cured companions

and descends in to El Cerro to scream in the company of El Tío thus alleviating the trauma

associated with the mining industry.

There is one other modern legend about El Tío and it shares the same Andean aspiration

of revival from imperialism as the Legend of the Boy Who Got Left Behind. The Legend is very

simple and is centered on an Incan Virgin Princess. This princess comes to the mines to “save the

miners from their sin and from El Tío’s hunger” . Thus there were stories of Potosían property, 33

moral and economic revival, greed and plight that came, before the phenomenon of El Tío

pg163-164 Salomon Kroonenberg, Why Hell Stinks of Sulfur32

pg 152 Michael Taussig, The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America 33

Paneque �13

emerged, within the early stages of its creation, and well into modernity due to the continuation

of the mining class society.

El Tío Today

“This tradition inside the mountain must be continued because there is no communication more

intimate, more sincere, or more beautiful than the moment of the ch'alla, the moment when the

workers chew coca together and offer it to the Tio. There they give voice to their social

problems, they give voice to their work problems, they give voice to all the problems they have,

and there is born a new generation so revolutionary that the workers begin thinking of making

structural change. This is their university.” 34

Though today Carnival holds periods of recognition of El Tío, the perceived physical domain of

the deity is confined. If a llama is to be sacrificed, it occurs in or outside of the mines and

settlements are built adjacent to familiarly associated mining areas not within the mountain. Yet

statues of El Tío are only constructed within the mines, and the actions of El Tío can not exit the

domain of the mines. Any remnants of Catholic symbols are also not allowed to enter the mines,

“At the entrance to the mine one may pray to God and make the sign of the cross. But inside one

must never do this. One cannot even us the pick when working close to mineral because the pick

has the form of the cross”. El Tío is by all means confined within the establishment of the 35

mining industry yet this myth’s implications extend outward.

pg153-154 Michael Taussig, The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America34

pg 147 Michael Taussig, The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America35

Paneque �14

Within the Devil’s Miner, a local priest confesses that though there is a large Catholic

Church following, people still fear El Tío so much that it restricts their faith in Christianity and

in themselves as being able to separate from their society’s past. This was the exact goal of the

Spaniards centuries ago and this is why although El Tío may have roots in Supay and pre-

colonial developed myths, it still continues today as this imperialistic development. However, El

Tío has become something more today, one could even say a form of preservation.

In the Devil’s Miner, an in depth analysis of El Tío from the view point of the mining

class in Potosí is presented. This documentary is about the life of a fourteen year old boy Basilio

Vargas who lives outside of the mine La Cumbra and works 24 hour shifts in increasingly deeper

and more dangerous mines that descend in to the heart of El Cerro. Through this documentary we

discover that there are thousands of mines within El Cerro and each mine has a personalized idol

of El Tío. Each idol variesy in size and color yet every idol is sitting upright with arms either

extended or crossed with an ape like face, a penis, seemingly glowing eyes, and confetti draped

around the neck. 36

The Devil’s Miner also displays the aspects of mining that have brought about this deep

connection with El Tío. By filming the deepest depths of the mines the viewer sees the intensity

of the mining industry in El Cerro. In a training exercise Basilio enters the core of the mine and

within the film, in this segment, the viewer can see how the miners are literally unable to open

their eyes and mouths due to the amount of debris in the air. The documentary also displays a

constant stream of carts filled with minerals and ore hurtling past blinded men and boys of all

ages which could clearly lead to a sudden death. Heavy mining equipment is used in these depths

pg 168 Salomon Kroonenberg, Why Hell Stinks of Sulfur36

Paneque �15

such as crudely constructed explosives and semi modern drilling tools excluding the pick axe of-

course for reasons listed above. The whole operation seems hectic at best and only functional due

to the well organized nature of the mining class and skill earned after years of being immersed

within these crude depths.

All Tíos require gifts when visited and are held responsible for death and hardship within

the mines which alleviates some of the guilt and anxiety from the minors. Every El Tío also

comes with characteristics and set beneficial affiliations; for example, Basilio and his younger

brother Bernadino Vargas feel a sense of comfort with the Tío of La Cumbra because they have

always lived in close proximity with to this idol. Frequent meetings with the idol occur

throughout the film in which both boys stare at the idol and speak to one another as if within a

church. Both boys sit pensively in front El Tío and at times intimately beseech the idol as if they

were praying to God. When entering new mines and within Carnival, the boys feel a sense of fear

and unease around different Tíos and devil-like representations that bare differences to their own

Tío that they feel a sense of comfort towards. “He is the owner of the mine. We walk with him.

He takes care of us and we arrive with him. He is still the owner of the mine.” 37

Though The Devil’s Miner provides us with insight on El Tío and the mining industry in

El Cerro; Michael T. Taussig’s The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America, provides

us with more comprehensive insight in to the creation and meaning of the the idol. Taussig does

this by first giving a more intricate description of the El Tío shrine;

“His body is sculpted from mineral. The hands, face, and legs are made from clay.

Often, bright pieces of metal or light bulbs from the miners’ helmets form his eyes.

pg 158 June C. Nash, We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us37

Paneque �16

The teeth may be of glass or crystal sharpened like nails, and the mouth gapes,

awaiting offerings... The hands stretch out for liquor. In the Siglo XX mine the

icon has an enormous erect penis... The spirit can also appear as an apparition...

resembling the technicians and administrators who controlled the tens of thousands

of miners” 38

Taussig poses a significant question in asking, “Is the devil belief with its associated rite best

interpreted as a response to anxiety and thwarted desire?” In my opinion, the answer is yes. The 39

way in which the El Tío is displayed and actualized speaks to the correctness of this assertion, at

least in answering the question for this specific case.

The Potosíans were subsistence farmers and never were introduced to mining because of

their cultural superstitions and naturalistic morals. It can be reasonably postulated that at least

some of the forced labor within the mines compelled a sense of degradation amongst the locals;

as their system of being in tune with a more peaceful relationship with nature quite immediately

began to dissipate. This may explain why the statues of the El Tío that Potosíans have created

throughout the years are composed of minerals. It is as if the Potosíans themselves are saying

that this extraction of minerals has superseded them and that there is a system of labor that is still

controlling themselves and the mines.

Taussig asserts that this is just a Marxist personification of a united struggle under a

unified societal conflict. In part, I agree with this especially within the period of colonization

within EL Cerro. There definitely was once a class conflict ridden society in Potosí, that



Paneque �17

separated the interests and desires between segregated labor forces. Yet even today there is a

connection between this more political interpretation of Potosían society in many regards.

Though women also suffer from the struggles of the mining industry, it is a male occupation and

masculinity does play a role in the construction of El Tío. It is evident that the mining industry

has brought about a “strong identity as a community and a class” , yet does the role of 40

masculinity facing adversity does play a role in the preservation of El Tío? Even within the

Devil’s Miner, we see how a household with a fully grown woman and her granted extremely

young daughter survive off of the labor of their fourteen and approximately ten year old male

relatives/sons.

Masculinity

First in describing the structure of El Tío, each writer and journalist makes note of the

fact that each shrine is endowed with a large penis. This identifies both the mines and the

conquering force of Potosí as masculine entities. This association blends well with Andean

spirituality, because of the dualism between the feminine figure of Pachamama and the

masculine figure of Supay, the spiritual forces of life and death. Taussig also states that Andeans

have formed a more humanistic identity for the mines, characterizing El Cerro and “the life of

the mine as a living entity, so to speak” . A particularly very enthusiastic miner’s quote notes on 41

the role of masculinity in inspiring miners to work in El Cerro, “I have no fear.. I like the

excitement of putting myself in danger to prove my manhood” The role of proving one’s 42

pg2 June C. Nash, We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us40



Paneque �18

manhood within the mines could have it’s roots in the mita labor system or perhaps in just a plain

ordinary compelling force of male bravado and being machista.

Perhaps male camaraderie is at the heart of the preservation of the El Tío and the cultural

trends that are associated the symbol, because it enables men to “transcend the definition of

themselves as meaningless cogs in an industrial enterprise” . This holds true especially within 43

the last two centuries. After the military coup and takeover of the mines in 1964, the Central

Obrero Boliviano workers’ union lost their power over their position within the industry, just as

the male mining class had in dealing with the mita and forced migrations. 44

June Nash spends most of her time describing the phenomenon of mythology in Bolivia

especially within her experiences and knowledge of Carnival. This provides necessary context in

understanding the role of El Tío in Bolivian celebration of the more every day lives of working

class individuals. The role of masculinity in ritualism and frivolity associated with El Tío also

embodies how far men and women are willing to go to pay homage to this symbol that has both

united and formed this bond between this society and the fraternal laboring class.

Carnival is an important aspect of Bolivian culture in maintaining pre-colonial and

colonial identity within modernity. Two of the major themes in Carnival are battling with the

monsters sent by the pre-colonial form and of Supay, and battling with subjugation by the

colonial Spaniards and the more modern version of El Tío. Many of the types of dances within 45

Carnival are rooted in the practice of carrying a picture of the devil in the mines or dressing like

a devil.

pg 121 June C. Nash We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us43



Paneque �19

There are two particular male dances that Nash notes upon, one is between a singular

devil impersonator and men dressed as laboring miners, the other, is men dressed as devils

carrying casks of wine (symbolizing the gifts to El Tío). Both of these dances symbolize the

pride that men take in their occupation and their plight. Community in Potosí is intrinsically 46

linked to the friendships made either in social groups or occupation.Thus, these dances are a

means for men to demonstrate how hard work and labor within the mines can overcome

struggles and sin associated with the concept of a lower class citizen as sinful. Even Basilio and 47

his younger brother participate in these dances and cause mischief for their female counterparts.

Carnival is involved with rituals in proximity to El Tío as well, ironically it is within

these rituals that we find the masculine aspect of the relationship with the idol come in to the

picture in odd ways. To please the idol, men and women gather around the mines in El Cerro and

use odd forms of role-playing and untraditional roles to entice the more lustful characteristics of

the sinful side of the entity. Women dress provocatively for El Tío to please his appetites with

alcohol and cigarettes (making sure not to upset the deity by burning his eyes with liquor of

course). Men even take on homosexual roles as Chinas to provide a provocative show for El 48

Tío’s amusement. All of this is considered oddly enough quite natural and forms a time of 49

amusement and frivolity for not only the symbolic idol in the mines but also for the native

inhabitants of the El Cerro region.

Conclusions





Paneque �20

There are many ways to view and analyze the symbol of El Tío. One could easily view the entity

as a tool to subjugate the masses of Potosí and create a facade that blinds them to the realities of

the conditions they to this day continue to face. Yet there are holes in this assertion. The symbol

has provided Potosíans and the Andean mining class in El Cerro with an exterior and

supernatural cause to the predicament they still continue to face. It has created avenues for

individuals to, speak about their fears (even if it is with a metaphysical concept that in many

ways is like an imaginary friend), to put the blame of traumatizing events on a supernatural

symbol, or to even take the edge off and celebrate for awhile with a group of friends and co-

workers. El Tío was constructed to subjugate but today it is more of a unifying force for the

mining class to call themselves the sacrificers not the sacrificed. In living in any society people

become at least in part illusioned about aspects of their societal well being and their role as an

individual. Not everyone can undergo a existential awakening like Pip in Herman Melville’s

Moby Dick. Yet is this facade of well being and distant supernatural instead of prominent

physical fear healthy?

The commodity frontier is still existent and one could say thriving in Bolivia. People

have centered their whole existence around El Cerro and the manmade and natural contents of

the mountains. In time however, it is quite likely that El Cerro will collapse after undergoing

hundreds of years of resource extraction. Sara Shahariari writes, “The government is racing to

implement an ambitious $2.4m (£1.5m) plan to stabilize the Cerro Rico's summit by filling in a

700 sq m sinkhole, which appeared in 2011.” Perhaps, it is time for the Potosíans and the 50

Bolivian government to take their focus off of this static symbol of El Tío and its history and

Sara Shahriari, Cerro Rico Mountain Sinkhole50

Paneque �21

assess the problems that may one day cause not only El Tío but also thousands of more lives to

sink in to the underground.

Paneque �22

End Notes: Resources Used

1. Buelcher, M. Rosie, Gobierno Minera y Sociedad, Potosí y el “Renecimiento” Borbónico 1776-1810. Syracuse University

2. Cervantes, Fernando, Redden, Andrew, Angels, Demons and the New World. 2013 3. Colección América,Potosí Plata Para Europa. 2000 4. Gutiérrez, Rita, Contaminacíon minera en Oruro y Potosí. 2009 5. Hanke, Lewis, Arzán’s History of Potosí. 1965 A Brown University Bicentennial Publication 6. Hanke, Lewis Historia de La VIlla Imperial De Potosí. 1965. Brown University Bicentennial Publications 7. Moh, Catherina, Cerro Rico: Devil worship on the man-eating mountain. 2014 BBC News Bolivia 8. Moore, Jason, “This lofty mountain of silver could conquer “This lofty mountain of silver could conquer

the whole world”: Potosí and the political the whole world”: Potosí and the political ecology of underdevelopment, 1545-1800[1] ecology of underdevelopment, 1545-1800[1]

9. Morales, Espinosa, Mineria Boliviana. 2010 10.Kroonenberg, Salomon Bernard, and Andy Brown. 2013. Why hell stinks of sulfur: mythology and

geology of the underworld. London, UK: Reaktion Books. 11.Nash, C. June, 1993. We Eat the Mines and the Mines Eat Us.

12.Nriagu, O. Jerome Mercury pollution from the past mining of gold and silver in the Americas. 1993 The Science of the Total Environment

13.Sanchez, Centeno, Gas, Petroleo y Mineria De Tarija. 2010

14.Shahriari, Sara 2014. Bolivia’s Cerro Rico, the ‘mountain that east men’, could sink whole. the guardian. cityhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/10/bolivia-cerro-rico-mountain-sink-city-potosi

15.Soruco, T. Alicia, Minería en las Tierras bajas de Bolivia 2012

16.Taussig, Michael The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America. Edition 2010 The University of North Carolina Press

17.W., Zarissa, About The Boy Who Got Left Behind. The smoking fox 2013, http://thesmokingfox.com/home/about-the-boy-who-got-left-behind

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/10/bolivia-cerro-rico-mountain-sink-city-potosi

the devil is staying in the mountains.word

Documents