Racial, regional rivalries threaten to tear Bolivia apart

Paul Harris, Chronicle Foreign Service
Sunday, October 28, 2007
(10-28) 04:00 PDT Santa Cruz, Bolivia --
Bolivia Troubling fissures have appeared in Bolivia's politics that make some fear the nation may be headed for a nasty breakup.

In recent months, there have been several showdowns between residents of the eastern lowlands and President Evo Morales, the nation's first indigenous president since the Spanish conquest. Morales aims to redistribute the nation's wealth from the east to the western provinces inhabited by the nation's indigenous majority.

Just this month, thousands of residents of Santa Cruz, Bolivia's wealthiest eastern city, seized Bolivia's busiest airport from soldiers sent by Morales. Airport workers, who had demanded the cargo handling fees that are paid monthly to the national airport authority, had threatened to block flights, which precipitated Morales' sending in troops. Santa Cruz Gov. Ruben Costas called on residents to retake the airport and thousands responded, waving green-and-white Santa Cruz flags.

Also this month, O Globo, one of Brazil's largest newspapers quoted an anonymous Santa Cruz state official bragging that a 12,000-strong anti-Morales militia was hidden in the jungle, awaiting the right time to strike against the government.

And last month, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Sucre to push for the city to become the full-fledged capital of Bolivia as it was before a civil war in 1899 moved the executive and legislative branches to La Paz, 250 miles away. Afterward, some 10,000 Morales supporters arrived, chanting "Death to those who want to divide the country."

Since Morales, a 47-year-old Aymara coca farmer and union leader, assumed power in January 2006, he has attempted to wrest control of the east's natural gas fields to develop the western highlands. The Altiplano, as the region is called, is inhabited by Aymara and Quechua Indians, who make up 55 percent of the country's 8.2 million population. The majority live below the poverty line in a country with an annual per capita income of $3,100.

As the economic center has migrated eastward in recent years, deep-rooted racial rivalries have intensified the regional split, many analysts agree. Jim Shultz, director of the Democracy Center, a nongovernmental organization based in the city of Cochabama, likens Bolivia's current political environment to the first years after Nelson Mandela became president in South Africa, replacing the apartheid government.

"We have seen historic cultural, ethnic, political and economic differences between the largely indigenous western highlands centered in La Paz and the more European, mixed-race flatlands centered in Santa Cruz erupt into a battle of wills that threatens political deadlock," Shultz said. "We are seeing a series of political aftershocks following the earthquake of his (Morales') election."

Santa Cruz, which is the agricultural hub of Bolivia, wants more autonomy from La Paz and a larger share of the natural gas revenues it generates. In short, provincial officials are irate over Morales' attempt to centralize power and focus on indigenous rights.

When eastern politicians called for greater regional autonomy, Morales produced plans for more indigenous and municipal autonomy that would circumvent regional power. "Morales' opponents hate him so much that they cannot see straight anymore," said Shultz.

To institutionalize indigenous rights, Morales wants a new constitution that will guarantee indigenous representation in Congress, recognize their communal property and give the Aymara and Quechua decisional power over exploitation of natural resources on their lands.

"Morales has taken the expectations of the excluded sections of Bolivia ... to look for a more equal and less unjust society," said former Hydrocarbons Minister Andres Soliz.

But Santa Cruz's U.S.-style consumerism doesn't blend well with Morales' vision of a communal state ruled by the Indian majority. Last month, the president appeared on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," denouncing capitalism as "the worst enemy of humanity."

"Morales has brought great symbolic force and made an historic leap for indigenous people to feel part of Bolivian society," said former President Carlos Mesa. "Indigenous autonomy and political inclusion are positive, and we should celebrate them, but Morales has not realized that he is president of all Bolivia."

Some political analysts say the east-west conflict may keep the so-called Constitutional Assembly, an elected body that is drafting the new constitution, from concluding its work by its Dec. 14 deadline. Some critics say Morales and his Movement Toward Socialism party will try to strong-arm the assembly into making the changes they want.

"There cannot be a Constitutional Assembly when one side tries to dominate the other. ... No one will believe in it. No one will trust it," said La Paz historian Carlos Toranzo.

But Horst Grebe, president of the La Paz think tank Prisma Institute, predicts political horse-trading eventually will produce a new constitution that will not include the institutionalization of indigenous power that Morales wants.

"It will be an agreement with no deep constitutional reform, that does not please anyone but protects the country from institutional failure," he said.

At the same time, many analysts doubt the political impasse will lead to civil war, banking on Morales to rely on his union background as a shrewd, pragmatic negotiator to arrive at a solution that benefits both sides.

"Morales pushes to the limits to obtain what he wants," said Eleanor Murphy, an analyst at Control Risks Group, an international consultancy based in London. "His demands start very high and then he negotiates down."

But historian Toranzo says continued political conflict could produce isolated acts of violence as indigenous protesters press for the government's program. "A failure of the Constitutional Assembly may serve as a trigger that could lead to battles between different interest groups," Toranzo said.

Political analyst Shultz disagrees.

"Never underestimate the ability of Bolivia to look like it is about to go over the cliff and not go over the cliff," he said.

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This article appeared on page A - 15 of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Che myth at 40

A dozen workers manhandle a 4-metre statue of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara into position in La Higuera’s village square, a collective effort that sees his cigar-clenching hand rise in the sky to celebrate the 40th anniversary on October 9th of his death in this remote corner of Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department.

Hundreds of visitors from around the world have made their way to La Higuera, the site of Guevara’s execution, for a weekend of events that show the legend of the Argentine revolutionary is alive and well. But while President Evo Morales sees Guevara as a kindred spirit who fought for the rights of the poor, Bolivians harbour mixed feelings about him.

In La Higuera and nearby Vallegrande where his body was displayed to prove he was dead, people have ‘sanctified’ him and talk of Saint Ernesto. “Because Che was a doctor, people think he has miraculous powers and light votary candles to him,” says tour guide Gonzalo Flores.

Bolivia’s Marxists say Guevara is more important than ever as inequality among people grows. “Che is never going to die because he always promoted change,” says sculptor Rodolfo Aranibar who donated the statue. “Che is alive because there are children that go hungry and because man keeps exploiting man,” says Ivan Herrea, director of the Che Vive group.

Soldiers that battled with Guevara’s revolutionaries think it inappropriate to celebrate the man they pursued while they fight to obtain state pensions in recognition of their efforts to stop his insurgency. “The government is paying homage to a foreign invader and it is shameful that neither it nor the armed forces recognize those that died doing their duty,” says General (retired) Gary Prado, who as a Bolivian army captain, captured Guevara’s guerrilla force at Nancahuazú in 1967.

Guevara’s spirit persists within the younger generation as it does with teenagers across North America; with the Marxist dialectic watered-down into ‘revolution light’, a symbol of protest without the blood and bullets, achieved by wearing the iconic image created by Jim Fitzpatrick in 1968 that is based on a 1960 Alberto Korda photo. “Che is a mythical figure that represents questioning, rebellious youth rather than the Cuban revolution,” says historian Paula Peña, director of the history museum in Santa Cruz.

Fitzpatrick’s image is known the world over. In Santa Cruz, it can be found on the banners for the Blooming and Oriente Petrolero soccer teams. “Some people admire Che because he is in fashion but he means nothing to me. What Che did is not well-known but everyone knows the t-shirts,” says Amanecer Tedesqui, a young internet entrepreneur. The image has popular appeal which is why “in the elections for class president at public universities some candidates put the Che image against their names to show they are prepared to fight for their ideals,” says Roberto Aguirre, national editor at Santa Cruz newspaper El Deber.

Guevara’s message still resonates in some of the poorest parts of Bolivia, such as the impoverished Villa Primera de Mayo neighbourhood in Santa Cruz whose main street is Ernesto Che Guevara. “This is one of the few recognitions of Che, but he is already dead so he is not a political problem. Most people are worried about more basic things such as inflation,” says Aguirre.

For Gary Prado, Guevara is little more than a media creation. “If it wasn’t for the media, no one would remember him. I had Al Jazera asking me about Che. What on earth has Al Jazera got to de with Che?” he asks.

The Guevara story has captivated the West since the 1978 publication of Travelling with Che by his companion Alberto Granado, which spread to a new generation with the 1994 publication of Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries, turning him into a mythical figure, a beckon of hope. “The death of Che has been a permanent feed for [Castro’s] revolution,” says Peña. “This guerrilla was sent to Bolivia as a sacrifice as Castro did not want to deal with him in Cuba. There has been a concerted effort to create and develop the Che myth to compensate for Castro’s failure in Latin America,” says Prado.

Having had successive military and right-wing governments, interest in Guevara in Bolivia has been relatively recent. “Until five years ago, Che was just a fact on a page of history, but this began to change as people saw the economic potential of exploiting his history and death,” says Aguirre,

“Tourism,” is the succinct response about what Guevara means, says Carlos Vargas, manager of economic development in Vallegrande. “Most people were detractors of Che but now they see in him the opportunity to develop tourism in the region. We hope people will come for the Che Route and stay to do other tourism activities,” he says. It is a recipe for success as “everyone wants to get close to the Che myth and go to the places where he was,” says Peña.

Close up includes first-hand anecdotes from people present at the events such as farmer Manuel Cortes, who still lives 30 metres from the school where Guevara was executed: “At 11am, two soldiers walked past carrying rifles and two beers. They drank and talked about who should kill him. I heard shots. Two bursts. They killed [Simon Cuba] Willy and then Che,” he says.

Afternoon tea in London

Few things are more English than taking tea, a staple that is both refreshing and relaxing and has natural compounds beneficial to health, which perhaps explains why the Tea Guild estimates that each person in the UK drinks three cups a day on average, an intake that verges on obsession.

The institution of taking afternoon tea is undergoing a renaissance in London as people seek to escape the breakneck pace of life in the modern metropolis and indulge in a touch of unashamed luxury at one of the English capital’s top hotels where one experiences five star service from liveried staff that are polite to a fault, among a beautiful setting.

The distinctly British twist of taking afternoon tea was invented by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford (1783-1857), who began to take tea and small cakes to quell the hunger that arose in the afternoon while waiting for dinner, which was served late. The idea caught on with other ladies-in-waiting of Queen Victoria and became an established social occasion.

Afternoon tea is elegance. One is transported back in time to an era when life seemed slower and more refined, to indulge in some of the finest and rarest teas in the world, and nibble at sandwiches and cakes, and of course that unique English indulgence: scones, a rich, biscuit-like pastry that is eaten with clotted cream and jam, perhaps with a glass of vintage Dom Ruinart champagne to add a celebratory touch.

Tea itself is a word derived from the Chinese Amoy dialect word tay, and drinking the beverage became popular in Britain following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, according to exhibits in the Brahma Tea Museum near Borough Market, when it was an expensive luxury product enjoyed by the aristocracy and wealthy. Many 17th and 18th century paintings feature teacups, tea strainers and tea caddies as symbols of wealth.

The craving for tea was so strong that British silver reserves were depleted buying Chinese tea. Britain turned to trade opium grown in India to pay for its tea addiction and fix its balance of payments problem, resulting in the 1839-42 Opium War, after which Britain introduced tea to India, whose plantations it could control.

WHY AFTERNOON TEA IS GREAT

“Afternoon tea is English. It takes you back in time to the golden time of the British aristocracy. There are not many places that provide this and most places in the world don't do it well. It is a little piece of heaven where people can take a break in their day and indulge in a luxury meal that is fabulous value for money. It is quite a treat,” says Renaud Gregoire, food and beverage manager at Claridge’s.

The hotels stick to the traditional components of tea, scones and sandwiches but each one offers subtle variations. “We have become more creative and do very elegant themed teas that follow the social calendar, such as a floral theme for the Chelsea Flower Show. We changed the non-vintage champagne to a rosé and we gave the pastries a twist so that they looked like flowers, and introduced floral teas into the menu. For Wimbledon we will provide a celebratory lawn tennis tea featuring champagne and strawberries,” says Gregoire.

The Dorchester introduced a wicked choc afternoon tea in May that starts with a chocolate martini, has a chocolate tea that French choclatier Luento Santoro makes from the shells of South American cocoa beans that is only served at The Dorchester.

NEW BREW

Afternoon tea has become popular once again “because it makes everyone feel special and elegant,” says tea expert and writer Jane Pettigrew. It is an opportunity to dress nicely and behave well, linking us to a time of elegance and gentility when those taking part behaved with courteous manners and kindness, so it is an antidote to the rough and tumble of ordinary life,” she adds, or as Brett Perkins, public relations consultant at the Dorchester puts it, “tea forces you to sit for two hours and just stop while with lunch, people run in and run out in one hour,” he says.

This resurgence has been catalyzed in part by the Tea Guild through the introduction of its annual tea awards. “The Tea Guild has put us in competition with each other, so the hotels have really worked harder. There is more interest in tea as well. In the past we had a selection of five or six teas an now we have over 30 and keep introducing new ones and training staff so that they know the teas better,” says Gregoire.

The Pavilion at The Dorchester won the Tea Guild’s Best Afternoon Tea in London award this year, and is the first hotel to have won it three times. “This is really competitive and the prize is fought out between the five star hotels,” says xx. A recent redesign of The Pavilion at The Dorchester created an orange and amber interior with draped curtains, pillars topped with golden floral capitals, which contrast with the palm fronds and statues of African figures that line the room. The atmosphere is 1930s colonial with waiters in tailcoats and white tie, giving the impression of people escaping the hot tropical sun.

Sitting in the tea salon at Claridge’s in Mayfair, one cannot help but be transported to another era by the 1930s Art Deco style of the room created seven years ago by Jerry Despont. Mirrors crowned with silver ostrich feather motifs line the walls with recessed lighting that yields a soft glowing light, with the room dominated by a magnificent Dale Chihuly chandelier sculpture that features 800 blown glass flutes that is suspended over a huge vase of red flowers and green foliage. Hushed conversation and the tinkle of monogrammed silver spoons against bone china accompany the piano and strings that provide a soft musical backdrop that leave one feeling that Jay Gatsby is somewhere in the room.

Afternoon tea has lost its stuffy, aristocratic image as dress codes have relaxed from formal to smart casual, extending its appeal to a new generation, although men still need a jacket and tie at The Ritz! The older ladies wearing pearls still take tea but you are just as likely to see designers, media planners and groups of young women taking a break from shopping, as well as tourists. “We get a lot of business people because lunch at tea they can take their time to discuss business while lunch is something they complete in an hour,” says Gregoire.

The popularity of tea is such that booking in advance is essential at weekends. “We are booked three months in advance at weekends. Monday used to be a slow day but we are now booked solid on Monday's as well as demand has been increasing for four or five years,” says Gregoire.

TEA

Earl Grey is the most traditional afternoon tea, but each hotel offers a selection that rivals their wine lists for choice. Organic teas are increasingly popular and menus have appellation teas such as Tencha, a Japanese green tea described as “the Dom Perignon of tea” by Claridge’s “that Victoria Beckham has started to drink”, and others from India, Ceylon and China, and even Tregothnan, a tea from Cornwall, England. Fortunately, a tea sommelier is on hand for those that cannot tell their silver needles from their pouchong. “Lapsong souchong has a strong smoky taste that many people do not like it, so a Siam tea may be a better choice,” advises the Dorchester sommelier.
An even wider selection of teas from the thirty typically offered at London’s top tea spots is available at the Tea Palace near Notting Hill, a modern tea emporium offering the widest selection of teas and infusions in the UK. Oolong, white tea, jasmine, rooibos and white snowbuds are among the 160 teas on the menu.

FOOD

The secret to a good afternoon tea is quality. Claridge’s sticks to the classic finger sandwich ingredients of organic ham, hickory smoked Daylesford chicken, eggs, cucumber, and salmon. “They are light flavours in bite size, crust-less finger sandwiches. We cook the hams and roast the chickens in house and carve them by hand, which is a lot of work,” says Gregoire.

Scones should have a light flavour, as “you should not feel like you cannot walk anymore afterwards,” says Gregoire, and typically are served with strawberry jam, though Claridge’s provides an exquisite pale citrus jelly that it obtains from its Parisian tea supplier that is lighter and less cloying. “We feel it goes better with the scones,” he says.

The scones baked by Claridge’s pastry chef Nicolas Patterson are incredibly light and melt in the mouth, complemented by the light taste of the jelly and the rich Devonshire clotted cream that dissolves over the palette. “The cream and jam complement each other. The jam gives the flavour and perfume while the cream the rich, sweet thing that you crave,” he says.

Bite size French pastries provide an additional sweet touch and are changed daily to give an element of surprise, such as banana cake, rhubarb and berry mousse, chocolate with a lime sorbet, and a fruit tart. “The cakes and jams change seasonally and we are always looking at new things. It is indulgent. It is the kind of food that you would never have at home, so you throw diet out the window,” says Perkins.

So sit back, relax and enjoy a couple of hours in the slow lane.

Puyuhuapi

The Zodiac dingy bumps and nudges through ice recently calved off the impressive wall of the San Rafael glacier in Region XI that stretches 1.8 km across the eastern end of the lagoon bearing its name. Rising 50 metres above us and a lot more than that below the water, the glacier is a magnificent end to a long weekend of relaxation.

Puyuhuapi Lodge is remote. Located on the edge of a bay in one of Chile’s many fjords surrounded by thick temperate forest that carpets the surrounding mountains for miles around, access is via launch. Here there is nothing but fresh air, cold water and thermal springs, and a little exercise; the perfect place to relax.

Knowledgeable and friendly guides arrange group activities every day such as walks and kayaking but nothing too strenuous. The guides lead two treks to Ventisquero Colgante, the hanging glacier in Parque Nacional Queulat the other side of the fjord that receives up to 4,000mm of rain a year.

A muddy trail climbs through the forest, periodically giving views over the milky blue glacial lake below and after about 1.5 hours, one emerges from the dark cover of the forest to look at the wedge shaped edge of the glacier slowly dripping through a gap in the shear mountain cliff, with waterfalls cascading at its side. There is always a sense of achievement from reaching the end of a trail and being rewarded with a view that merits the effort.

Two treks lead out from the hotel into the thick forest of ferns and native tree species that include coigues, tepas and mañíos in addition to larch and bamboo. Frequent rains in this part of the world mean the trees are encrusted with rich green mosses and lichens, and many fungi species grow in a rainbow of colours including bright purples and fiery reds. A rich, earthy smell hangs in the forest air, periodically perfumed by the presence of an herb plant. Grassy glades provide an opportunity to see some bird life and we were lucky enough to see an owl waiting for prey. “The guides are very knowledgeable about the history and nature of the place,” says Ian, an English computer programmer who works with the British Geological Survey. “The attitude of the staff is excellent. They are always smiling and pleasant,” says Richard, a retired pilot from Chalfont St Giles in England.

A handful of sit-on-top kayaks are available for paddling around the pristine bay. While there is a tide, there is little current which means there is no danger of getting stuck anyway. A couple of small islands are within easy paddling distance and can be circled within a couple of hours, passing over vast beds of mussels that cling to the islands and the shallow channel that passes between them. In the sunshine, it is glorious, although the weather cannot be guaranteed.

Puyuhuapi Lodge tries to bill itself as an activity centre but while kayaking and trekking are available, they are very much second fiddle to the spa. The kayaking and trekking and enjoyable but serve to burn a few calories and heighten the appetite for the excellent catering while forming a pretext for soothing ones muscles in the spa. In fact, many guests visit the lodge having hiked in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine and want nothing more than to soothe their muscles and take advantage of the excellent catering. “The company markets the lodge as an adventure place but it is definitely not that. They do a few walks and you can do things independently so you don’t have to be part of a group,” says, Matthew a travel agent from Banbury near Oxford in England who was on his honeymoon.

The site benefits from three types of water: sea water, fresh spring water from mountain waterfalls and hydrothermal water from a volcanic source at Melimoyu volcano, and all three find their way into the three outside pools of different temperatures. The hottest pool is a little grotto under dense foliage of shrubs and ferns at a toasty at 38C. The grey mud in the grotto wall contains minerals that make for an impromptu exfoliating face pack.

Another pool, at a more moderate 35C provides a sweeping view of the bay and the wood-frame Chilote style hotel that is covered with wooden shingles. The region is covered with the vivid pink and purple Magellan Fuchsia Fuchsia magellanica and as I scull around the warm water looking at the snowy peaks on the other side of the fjord a flesh of petrol green catches my eye: a hummingbird is zipping around the fuchsia, a surprise in the cold Patagonian climes.

While warm water is very soothing, staying too long in its lulling embrace is not recommended, and so I exit and take the stairway down to the sea to take a cold plunge. And cold it certainly is. A few quick strokes into the bay is enough to feel the cold bite into the flesh and I am soon turning around to get back into the warm pool.

The spa complex itself has something of the charm of The Prisoner, with guests in white toweling dressing gowns padding around in slippers. I was number 4E. “You get straight into your bathrobe and have the welcome in the spa with natural mineral water,” says Richard.

The spa is vast, with a large pool with a fountain that pumps out warm water like a fire hose with which you can massage your back and neck, and two Jacuzzis set overlooking the bay, are like boiling cauldrons of relaxation. They heat up so much that even a plunge into the icy pool does not draw the heat from your skin.

And for some additional pampering, a range of treatments and massages are available. “The treatments were very nice but not that deep. They were aimed more at beauty treatments than reflexology,” says Jeanne, a masseuse from Banbury, on her honeymoon.

The same thermal water is used to provide heating throughout the hotel so while it is nice and fresh outside, inside remains good and cosy, a feeling that is complemented by the quality and inventiveness of the food in the restaurant with dishes such as salmon baked in white wine that was succulent and delicious. “We are vegetarian and they tried very hard to make meals for us,” says Gill, Richard’s wife.

But the weekend did not end before one more high: a visit to the San Rafael Glacier. With an early morning start, we boarded the catamaran that would whisk us there at over 20 knots per hour, arriving just after lunch. San Rafael Glacier was discovered by Europeans in 1674 and is a magnificent sight. The beauty of a catamaran is its maneuverability that allows it to cut and turn between the icebergs with ease, pushing ice aside with its twin bows and cruising ever closer to the ice face.

With a couple of zodiacs, groups of ten people are whisked even closer to the ice face although never within range of harm, but being in such a small craft so close to the water provided a heightened sense of adventure compared to some of the other vessels that bring people to the glacier. Periodically a loud crash and splash is heard as ice calves off the glacier and a new iceberg is formed, followed by a whoosh as ice from the glaciers’ bottom under the water breaches the surface.

After spending a magical three hours at the glacier it was time to leave. As if on cue, the sun broke through the overcast sky as a drizzle started to fall and a rainbow arched up and over the San Rafael.
ENDS

Colombian gold rush

If country can limit its internal violence, the precious metal could make for rich pickings
Paul Harris, Chronicle Foreign Service

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

(02-06) 04:00 PST Segovia, Colombia -- Sweat pours off the back of Luis Villegas as he shovels mineral-rich ore into a sluice. Next to him, another man pans for gold and a third pours mercury from a yogurt carton into his pan to separate the gold from the ore.

Behind them, three wooden poles, thick as telegraph posts, that form part of an old-fashioned stamp mill perform their ceaseless dance, pounding the gray, gold-bearing rock into a fine grit.

It looks like a scene from California's Gold Rush. In fact, it's modern day Colombia, where -- with the exception of the yogurt carton -- small-scale miners still use virtually the same technology that brought riches to San Francisco more than 150 years ago.

"What I find astonishing is Colombia's gold mines produce over 1 million ounces of gold per year and yet it has no major gold producer," says Peter Bolt, director of Cambridge Mineral Resources, a London company looking to bring modern mining techniques to the country.

Colombia may be on the verge of its own gold rush, mining experts say.

Colombia's gold reserves haven't been tapped in part because of 50 years of armed conflict involving the army, left-wing guerrillas, right-wing death squads and drug cartels, a lethal mix that made mining dangerous. But as security measures put in place by President Alvaro Uribe prove successful in quelling violence, the clamor for the precious yellow metal is proving irresistible.

As much as 40 percent of Colombia has not even been geologically mapped. Industry experts think there are rich pickings to be had.

"A steady flow of mining companies into the country has begun, and the potential of Colombia is there for all to see (with small-scale) gold mines spread across the length and breadth of the country," Bolt said.

The three belts of Andean cordillera that straddle Colombia have yet to feel the drill bits of modern exploration equipment. Miners are convinced "that there exist large undiscovered reserves," says Archak Bedrossian, an international gold consultant and trader.

Peru, Colombia's neighbor to the south, produces about 210 tons of gold per year. Some believe Colombia could surpass that.

"There is more gold in Colombia than there ever was in Peru," said Ian Park, president of Compañia Minera de Caldas, a Canadian-owned mining company

Of the 23 tons of gold that Colombia mines each year, 15 are produced in the west-central state of Antioquia. The Segovia and Frontino mining districts are there. Ten tons is panned by small-scale miners who produce less than 1 to 2 ounces of gold per day using the antiquated methods brought to the region by fortune-seeking Cornish miners from England in the 19th century, just like the Cornishmen who flocked to California during the Gold Rush.

Antioquia's picturesque green hills, on which cattle graze between plots of sugarcane, have been the heart of Colombia's gold production for centuries. Many of the indigenous gold ornaments and objects that hypnotized Spanish conquistadors hundreds of years ago came from this region.

Asomineros, a mining trade group, estimates that there are 1,500 small-scale gold workings employing 200,000 miners in the state. Men can be seen standing thigh-deep in the creeks, shoveling gravel into sluices in the hope of finding gold flakes and nuggets.

"I have some luck, enough to get by," said Hernan Ortega, a sun-bronzed man in his 40s, as he took a break from hoisting shovels of rock from the fast moving stream.

In Marmato, in Caldas state to the south, the hills are riddled with adits, the tunnels supported by wooden beams that the miners excavate to follow gold veins.

The humid, dimly lit tunnels are small and hazardous to navigate. Miners push handcarts all day to haul out ore and waste rock. Temperatures reach 122 degrees Fahrenheit. With no power tools, almost everything is done by hand.

Industrial-scale miners seek a mother lode, a deposit that contains a gold-bearing vein sufficient to produce in commercial quantities for several years.

"The veins being exploited typically average 2 meters in width and contain 15 to 20 grams of gold per ton, with bonanza grades above 1,000 grams locally," said Colin Andrew, Cambridge Mineral's managing director.

In laymen's terms, that means there's a lot of gold here.

Having spent more than $45 million to date exploring its Angostura gold property near Bucaramanga, in Santander department, the Canadian company Greystar Resources has found a multitude of veins containing 10 million ounces of gold.

"We have identified over 120 veins in the deposit (including) 60 higher-grade shoots where the veins intersect," said Greystar Executive Vice President Frederick Felder.

Wherever there is gold production in Colombia there are ancient stamp mills nestled into the mountain, the mechanical dinosaurs that were first used more than 500 years ago and that linger into the 21st century. Antioquia alone has 500 of the stamp mills, similar to those first used in Renaissance Europe, Asomineros estimates.

The government hopes that an influx of foreign investment will create jobs, modernize mining techniques and make the industry more productive.

One of the biggest challenges is curbing deadly environmental practices that are integral to Colombia's antiquated mining tradition. Authorities want to restrict use of toxic mercury and cyanide, substances used for ore processing that are now openly dumped into streams.

"Exploitation of Colombia's great gold potential has to be with modern technology that allows higher mineral recovery and better social and environmental conditions," said Carlos Uribe, director of Asomineros.

At a small mill near the Quintana mine where Cambridge Mineral is exploring, miners add mercury, a neurotoxin with highly toxic vapors, to the wok-size steel pan that is used to agglomerate gold particles, using their fingers to mix it into the grit.

"The people have problems with mercury, it stays in their bodies," said Antonio Castillo, mine manager at Quintana.

Once the grit has been panned away, the remaining liquid is poured into a piece of cloth and the mercury squeezed out through the fabric to leave a ball of gold-mercury amalgam. The miners perform the task without gloves or masks to protect them against the fumes that damage the lungs, kidneys and brain.

Much of the mercury ends up in local rivers, threatening a legacy not unlike that which California faced from its Gold Rush years. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 3 million pounds of mercury entered Sierra Nevada watersheds during the gold boom.

In Segovia, a threadbare mining town of 60,000 about 120 miles from Medellin, every shop has a sign in the window that says "we buy gold." In the central plaza stands a golden statue of a woman, Mother Earth, from whose belly a miner removes ore with a pick.

The arrival of foreign mining companies will see the picks gradually be replaced by power drills. Mother Earth has a lot more gold to give.

Colombia December 2006

Colombia is a beautiful country and here are a few images from my visit there in December to show it. These are from the Gold Muesum in Bogota and from the Christmas lights in Medellín.