After the Pulacayo silver mine was rediscovered in 1833, Aniceto Arce acquired it in 1856, and it became the foremost holding of his Huanchaca Company. While serving as Bolivian president (1888–92), Arce established railroad connections between Pulacayo and Antofagasta on the Chilean coast in 1890 and with Oruro in 1892. After 1927, the tin magnate Mauricio Hochschild held possession of the valuable mine. Given the economic importance of Pulacayo, it is no coincidence that the site would become a leading center for the organization of mineworkers. The Trade Union Federation of Bolivian Mineworkers (fstmb) was founded in 1944,...