Necessity pushed Henry Alviárez to “pick up” in the artisanal coal mines of Lobatera, a town in the Venezuelan Andes hit by the crisis where this job represents for many the only option.
Lobatera, in the state of Táchira, bordering Colombia, has some 50 deposits exploited by 22 cooperatives with between 8 and 10 workers.
They do not earn more than 120 dollars per month.
The coal, used mainly for power generation, is moved to the neighboring state of Mérida or to Colombia through irregular roads.
“I’m here out of necessity,” 51-year-old Henry tells AFP of the coal mines. “Here there are many blacksmiths, mechanics, but we cannot work on that” due to an unprecedented economic crisis that plunged Venezuela into eight years of recession and four of hyperinflation.
Henry leaves every day very early for the Los Parra mine, regarding 45 minutes by motorcycle from his home. He says that the work is exhausting between the lack of oxygen in the depths of the tunnel and the precarious conditions, without safety equipment for an emergency.
His three children emigrated. One is in Chile, another in Colombia and the third in Ecuador. “And it’s a good thing they left,” he says, convinced that if he stayed, his future would most likely be with him in the mine. “Who wants to work there? No one!”.
dirt roads
The Lobatera mines, on which some 500 families depend, are located in a mountainous area, with dirt roads where only trucks or motorcycles can circulate.
It is very hot and the coal mines do not have bathrooms or an area to eat or rest with an awning. The tunnel often represents the only shelter to protect oneself from the inclement sun.
“It is quite a risky job, because we have to put a lot of wood in the mines to protect ourselves and entrust ourselves to God,” says José Alberto Trejo, 38, who has already worked in mines in Colombia, given the lack of employment opportunities in construction, an area in which he previously worked.
On average, each miner in Los Parra can extract a ton per day, but there are no reliable figures on the total production in the 50 deposits.
Artisanal coal mines
Henry works shirtless, pickaxe in hand and a helmet with a flashlight. He has his entire body stained black from coal, which is mixed with sweat. He tries to clean it, unsuccessfully, with a green rag.
“The price of coal is low and over the years it has fallen more, so now it’s time to work harder,” explains Pablo José Vivas, 61, Henry’s partner in Los Parra.
The miners deliver their production to the mine manager, who sells it for $50 a ton to trucks that transport it. The profits are distributed among the members of the cooperative.
Pablo, who has been working in these mines for more than 20 years, picks up a piece of the freshly mined ore and holds it in his black-stained hands. The stone shines, the light from the helmet gives it a violet hue, as if it were a jewel.
The work is distributed in three stages: there is the one who pierces the granular material with the pick, another who pulls the wheelbarrow and who then empties the coal into the wheelbarrow to take it outside.
A man is knee-deep in coal in one of the many piles that rest outside the tunnel waiting for the truck to arrive to transport them.
foreign investments
The Governor of Tachira, Freddy BernalChavista, promotes foreign investments -Russian, Chinese, Indian, among other countries- for Lobatera.
“It would generate a number of jobs, in addition to an economic impact,” he said, guaranteeing that families who work there for more than 40 years will not be harmed.
But the announcement, which has not yet materialized, far from relief, causes fear among the miners.
“The rudimentary is going to end because they are going to work with new technology and here we don’t know,” warns Pablo: “Many of us are going to be left out.”
