In the Name of the Nation

The Trade Union Federation of Bolivian Mineworkers (fstmb) held an emergency congress in the mining district of Siglo XX from 20 to 22 October 1986. Two months earlier, the government had forcibly shut down a major protest march responding to the mining crisis and the massive layoffs of workers in the state mining sector. The political statement issued by the fstmb contained a blunt and withering attack on the aims of the neoliberal restructuring introduced by Supreme Decree 21060 in 1985. Most notably, it asserted that the foremost economic interests of the nation were no different from those of workers themselves.