As it would happen, the day I wrote my 'I love Bolivia' post (below), I got a confronting insight into a very ugly side of the country: the dangerous and unregulated child labour. We went to see a documentary called 'The Devil's Miner'. I've mentioned it before in my Potosi post. It follows 14 year-old Basilio Vargas who, raised without a father, is forced to support his mother, brother and young sister by working in the once silver-rich Cerro Rico mines of Potosi. It gives a raw depiction of Basilio's reality, his fears, hopes and dreams. It also captures the stark contrast and contradiction of his, and other miners', devout Catholicism outside of the mine, and the self-torment that results from their fear-fuelled devotion to the miners' 'God' inside the mine, the 'Tio' or Devil.
The idea of a 14 year-old boy bearing the burden of supporting his family in this way is particularly awful. However, Basilio's sad story is, I'm sure, shared to different extents by thousands of other Bolivian children. These children are ubiquitous, perhaps not in mines, but on streets, in plazas and outside restaurants. They beg or sell lollies and handcrafts, with a not-far-off adult awaiting profits. This is a reality that shouldn't be.
'The Devil's Miner' has stayed with me and I expect will continue to do so. I'd definitely recommend you see it.
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