...
[music]
>> Tim Scott: Chances are you've never heard of Potosi.
And why would you?
Today, it's just a small city
tucked away in the highlands of
Bolivia, but the history, that's
what's really fascinating.
What if I were to tell you that
Potosi was once one of the
largest cities on earth, and at
its height, produced over 60% of
the world's silver?
It'd sound crazy, right?
But it'd all be true.
The history of Potosi can be
traced back to one thing,
Cerro Rico, which means
"rich mountain."
Cerro Rico looms over the city
of Potosi like a giant,
and inside are networks
of some of the world's
most dangerous mines.
Empires and individuals have
been pulling out silver from the
rich mountain since 1545.
In fact, Cerro Rico is
responsible for much of the
wealth of the Spanish Empire.
Back in the day, it funded their
fleets, armies, and their
expansions in the New World, but
it didn't come without a cost.
It's estimated that a staggering
8 million have died working in
the mines of Cerro Rico, and
even to this day, the death toll
continues to rise every year.
Our mission in Potosi would be
to first enter the mountain
to see the life of miners.
>> Will Decker: Si, si,
Estados Unidos.
>> Tim: And in the days ahead,
share the gospel with many.
>> Tim: We just thank you,
Father God, right now that
there's a special blessing
upon--
>> Tim: But nothing could have
prepared us for all that
we would witness.
>> Tim: Just get inside quick.
>> Tim: And how intense
this journey would become.
>> Will: Whew.
>> Tim: The mission in Potosi
was unlike any we've ever
undertaken, and one that led us
into the depths of the earth.
But even in the darkness,
the light shines brightly.
[music]
>> Tim: So we're at the deposit.
This is where you pick up your
equipment to go to the mines.
And we arrived a couple days ago
and made contact with our guide
here, who's name is Soledad.
And Soledad knows these mines
very well, and she's gonna take
us inside today for our first
introduction to the miners who
are working there.
>> Tim: Oh, yeah, gracias.
>> Soledad: This mine
is very warm.
>> Tim: Yeah, very warm.
So just tee shirts.
>> Tim: But it's pretty
dangerous, as these mines have
been in operation for
over 450 years, which has left
the mountain completely
hollowed out.
So there's collapses,
explosions, and air shortages
that kill people all the time up
there.
Not to mention, we'll also
nearly be at 15,000 feet when we
reach the entrance.
>> Will: So, gettin' our gear on
here.
One of the things we've been
hearing about is, well,
is the miners' beliefs.
And there's actually an idol
inside the mine that they
consider the devil and believe
in called El Tio.
And the miners will give
offerings and sacrifices to it
for protection.
And this is a practice that
they've been doing sing the
Spanish colonial times.
>> Soledad: This is the god
for miners.
This is the devil.
>> Tim: The main beliefs
of the miners are unique because
it's a mix between old-school
Catholicism and indigenous
practices.
And what you find is that the
message of faith in Jesus is
minimized, and instead, Mary and
the devil hold a lot more
importance.
So this will be an interesting
start, and really, the first
seeds of the gospel.
But now we're gonna head over to
the miners' market and we're
gonna see some of the things
that the miners buy before they
head into the mountain.
>> Tim: Yeah, so this is the
miners' market.
It's where they get their
helmets.
They get everything down here.
And you can see, like, these
buses that are constantly going
by right now.
That's some miners going up
there to go work their mines.
So it's getting really busy up
there.
And we just had rains last
night, but it looks like it's
gonna be somewhat of a clear
day, and there's a few clouds
over here, but we're goin' up on
the hill.
And we're gettin' ready to go
into the mountain.
>> Soledad: This is the coca leaf shops.
The minders take with them.
The miners arriving here
for to buy the coca.
The coca is more important
for him.
>> Will: Why is it so important?
>> Soledad: Miners, for extra
energy.
>> Will: This is the actual coca
leaf, and this is actually what
cocaine is made from.
The miners use it to give 'em
extra energy to, you know, get
'em through, that doesn't make
'em hungry, you know?
So they can really sustain,
like, long hours, 10, 12 hours
in there.
>> Soledad: No tired, filter--
>> Will: Yeah, it keeps them
awake, yeah.
Oh, here's the dynamite.
>> Soledad: This is the
dynamite.
This is all the material.
This is the fuse, and they
contain inside nitroglycerin.
Only in this mall in Potosi it's
legal to buy dynamite because
it's material necessary for
miners.
>> Will: Yeah.
>> Soledad: Here's the fuse.
This is the detonator to
introducing here.
For more big explosion,
to mix this this.
This is ammonium nitrate.
Both is big explosion.
>> Will: Oh,
you mix it together.
>> Soledad: Yes, together mix, boom.
>> Tim: Boom, and it goes.
How many explosions are there up
there a day?
>> Soledad: No have limits in there.
>> Tim: Exactly.
>> Soledad: Because it's individual miners.
So you work a long time, you
have a lot of explosions also.
>> Tim: Yeah.
>> Will: You wanna carry that?
>> Tim: Dynamite.
>> Tim: As we picked up our gear
at the miners' market, we began
to realize just how dangerous
the conditions inside Cerro Rico
were.
Most of the miners who enter the
mountain work their own claims
privately, which means there's
no organized regulations.
And this is proven by the
ability to buy high-impact
explosives on the street side as
easily as a pack of gum.
But beyond the dangers of
explosions or cave-ins,
there was an additional threat
we had been told about,
and that was of the toxic fumes
and dust particles.
It's estimated that most miners
of Cerro Rico die of respiratory
ailments within ten years of
working the mines.
They call it, "The invisible
killer," or "The miners' cough."
>> Tim: Now, how long have you
been going into the mines?
>> Soledad: I?
>> Tim: Yeah.
>> Soledad: Until 15 years.
>> Tim: Fifteen years?
And have you worked there, or
just--?
>> Soledad: My parents, my
brother's working in the mine.
>> Tim: Oh, they are still to
this day?
>> Soledad: Now he's died five
years ago.
He's died, my brother.
>> Tim: Oh, he did?
How old was he?
>> Soledad: Thirty-three years.
>> Tim: Thirty-three?
>> Soledad: Yeah, so many
miners, at least with my
brother, he died more early for
problems with the lungs.
>> Tim: With the lungs.
[music]
>> Soledad: This is
the first view.
>> Will: So this is the town
of Potosi just below.
Just trying to get acclimatized
and stuff because it's super
high up.
It's very, very high up.
>> Soledad: In that elevation
4,500 meters.
>> Will: Oh, this is 4,500?
>> Soledad: Three hundred eighty
meters more, this is the top.
>> Will: Wow, this is--
>> Soledad: You see?
It's near
>> Will: Uh-huh, 4,500, that's,
like over 14 and 1/2 almost,
isn't it?
That's high.
>> Soledad: Around this
mountain, the workers are for
5,000 in this moment.
>> Will: Five thousand here?
>> Soledad: Five thousand here,
yeah, in this moment.
>> Will: Wow.
>> Soledad: But three years ago
the people working is 18,000
miners, but now it's less
because the price in the
international market has
collapsed.
>> Will: For silver?
>> Soledad: Yes.
>> Will: Yeah, how dangerous is
it, like, in the mines?
I know a lot of people 'cause
they suffer from, like, they get
black lung, and they get things
like that.
But how--is there a lot of
deaths, like, of just people
working in the mine with things
that might happen?
>> Soledad: Yes.
>> Will: Yeah?
>> Soledad: The people is
working, but when they are more
deep, is good minerals, good
quality.
>> Will: Oh, so that's where
they go for.
>> Soledad: Yeah, this is good
quality.
>> Will: So they wanna go to the
hotter areas, the deeper areas.
>> Soledad: Exactly.
>> Will: But the deeper you go,
the more dangerous it gets,
right?
>> Soledad: Yeah.
>> Will: Yeah, I see.
>> Soledad: So many miners,
working in good areas,
ventilation area.
And the other mines is bad.
>> Will: I see, yeah.
>> Soledad: Now we go to the
underground, inside, right?
>> Will: Okay, yeah.
And do these blow out
when they detect something?
>> Soledad: Yeah.
>> Will: Like toxic fumes or CO2
or somethin'?
>> Soledad: Yeah.
>> Will: All right, got the
battery pack here.
>> Tim: Dynamite.
>> Tim: Man, I'm, like,
winded just walking up the hill.
Think about it,
it's just 20 feet.
This mine's been in
service since 1651,
and we're about to enter
the cave.
[music]
>> Will: We're just going down
in the mine here.
This is dark.
>> Soledad: No, but in a few
minutes your eyes do accustom.
>> both: Yeah.
>> Will: Sure, sure.
[music]
>> Will: Do you hear
those pipes?
>> Soledad: It's air.
>> Will: You can see all these
pipes that they're bringing air
down from the outside into the
deeper shafts so people can
actually get air.
You can actually hear some of it
kinda leaking out right now.
>> Tim: That's not good, is it?
>> Will: Huh uh.
[music]
>> Tim: We're moving deeper
into the mountain.
There's some miners down here.
>> Will: Yeah,
I might need your help.
[music]
>> Tim: So, we've just come down
to level minus 1, and what we're
doing today is taking a first
scouting mission inside of here
to get to know some
of the miners.
But just to give you a
perspective on the way these
mines are kinda laid out,
they're basically descending
levels that go down to
a total of four levels deep.
And at each of these levels,
there are hundreds of shafts
and passages that branch out.
But what we're going to attempt
to do is go down to the very
lowest level, which will be
about four levels deep, and meet
groups of miners along the way.
So we definitely have
a long ways to go today.
>> Tim: What is this?
>> Soledad: The Tio.
>> Tim: Can we see this?
>> Soledad: We'll come back,
yes.
We'll come back in here.
>> Tim: We'll come back?
>> Soledad: Yeah.
>> Tim: Okay.
[music]
>> Will: This is pretty amazing
actually.
You look at this, and you're
like, "All right," and it looks
like ice or snow or somethin'.
This is asbestos that's just on
the roof here, and that's why
you have to really mask up.
I mean it is terrible how bad
this is for your lungs
and stuff like that.
I mean, you have silica.
You have everything that just
kinda works its way in, fine
dust, but it's pretty amazing.
>> Tim: And you can see
the water.
It's got this red composition
to it, so it's just a mineral,
like, you know, off from that
and, like, the rain, and all
sorts of condensation in here.
But it's really tight.
Sometimes, you know, like,
you're jamming your head when
you're walking through, and,
you know, it's really difficult.
>> Will: Is this flooding bad
for collapses?
>> Soledad: Yeah.
>> Tim: I think there's
something happening ahead.
>> Will: Oh,
so this actually collapsed?
>> Soledad: Yes.
>> Will: So, this, like,
roof area, like collapsed.
And all the workers are right
now kinda clearing it up so they
can get the trolleys moving
again to get the mineral and
stuff out to the surface and
sludge and things like that.
>> Will: Was anybody injured?
>> Soledad: No, nothing, no,
there were no accidents.
>> Will: Nobody was injured?
>> Will: We were lookin' at it,
and it's like sometimes you see
the beams are kinda cracked,
you know, rickety and stuff
like that, so they're kinda
cleaning it up.
Nobody was injured
in that though.
>> Soledad: Usually they are
working in more deep place.
>> Will: More deep place,
really?
Oh, really?
>> Soledad: He said you can go
down, but it's difficult for
you, for the cameras.
>> Will: That's okay,
we can try it.
>> Soledad: Okay, guys?
>> Will: Yeah, we're headin'
down there?
>> Soledad: Yes,
we go down there.
>> Tim: That's small, whoa.
>> Will: She said we're goin' at
least three, maybe more levels
down, depending if it's clear.
We were just walking
on these tracks for a while,
and then she's like, "Yeah,
we're going down this hole."
And you're just like, "Oh, man."
It's like you barely
can even fit into it.
This is where
all the workers go.
They, like, head down with all
their equipment and everything.
[music]
>> Will: Watch your step here.
It's like a big drop off.
[music]
>> Will: Oh, there's that heat.
Do you feel it?
>> Will: Man, it just literally
popped up about 20, 25 degrees.
>> Tim: It did.
>> Will: When we turned this corner, it was just like heat,
like, coming through.
Heat that's coming
from the lower sectors.
>> Tim: All right, it's getting
too hot right now.
So we're taking off
all of our shirts.
It's about, I'd say it's
about 80 degrees right now,
and they said it gets up to
about as high as 115.
But it's tight spaces in here,
and the heat, and the dust
particles in the air makes it
for a rough journey.
So we're gonna go further
into the mountain.
[music]
>> Will: This camera has
a tough go, being able to film
and stuff down here.
I mean, it is just brutal.
Our camera is just totally
covered with silica and dust
and everything, so it's pretty--
it's just a brutal, brutal,
brutal environment to be in
at all, you know,
as a human, as anything, whew.
>> Tim: Do they go way down to
work the area?
>> Soledad: Yeas, but he's
working up.
>> Tim: Oh, he's working up?
He goes up in that little hole
there?
>> Soledad: Yes, we go in there.
>> Tim: Yeah, interesting.
>> Will: These are the small little passages you have to take
in order to find the workers.
They're back here somewhere.
>> Soledad: How are you guys?
>> Will: Okay, no problem.
>> Will: Wow, it's a small one,
isn't it?
>> Tim: It's a very tight space.
[music]
>> Will: I don't know how these
workers even find these areas,
much less are able to work back
here.
>> Tim: It's gettin' really
tight.
I'm, like, two levels down.
>> Will: It's dusty in here,
isn't it?
>> Tim: It's the worst dust we've faced so far.
>> Will: Oh, here they are.
Are they finding silver in this
area?
>> Soledad: Black silver.
Silver oxide.
This is black silver,
this is white silver.
>> Tim: This is all a silver
vein right here going up.
This is actually a really good
find.
You can see under there.
It's a high quality.
He showed us a piece of it, but
it's, like, a very high-quality
silver vein.
>> Tim: I mean, you imagine that
this has been goin' on for 400
years.
I mean, now, people are still
working by hand deep in these
tunnels, deep in these caves,
and they're goin' after this,
just for this silver.
>> Will: It's like these men are
down here, primitive, primitive
tools.
You know, they've got dynamite.
They've got shovels and picks
and stuff like that, and really,
what's crushed 'em over the last
few years is the commodity
prices for silver has just
dropped.
So, it's, like, these workers
are making, like, 30 Bolivians a
day, and that makes, it's about
$5, a little less than $5 a day.
So, I mean, for this
environment, and what you have
to go through, and what you put
your body through, it's just,
it's incredible.
But we've been able to give some
gifts out and stuff.
Like, to these guys, we just
gave some dynamite to so they
can blow holes in stuff.
>> Soledad:
[speaking foreign language]
>> male: Si.
>> Soledad:
[speaking foreign language]
>> male:
[speaking foreign language
>> Soledad: He don't like
the work, but the problem is
in here, this is only this job.
>> Tim: This is the only job?
>> Soledad: The only job.
>> Tim: Do they worry
about their health?
>> Soledad:
[speaking foreign language]
>> male: Si.
>> Soledad: Yes, he's worked
for three years and a half.
>> Tim: Three and a half.
>> Soledad: In this area, one,
one year.
>> Will: You have to admire the
amount of effort that goes into
their job and their life, and,
you know, the hazards,
the strains, everything
like that is just incredible.
I mean, they're very--I mean, it
is probably one of the most,
you know, dangerous things you
could be doing, and you really
can tell with, you know,
the lifespan of which
they live and things like that.
But, yeah, you know,
it's pretty staggering.
But we're definitely gonna come
back and visit them again.
But right now we're gonna
go down to the lower levels
and see more workers while
there's still time in the day.
>> Will: All right, so we're
going down this deep pit here.
>> Will: The ladders are
rickety.
>> Soledad: Watch out,
watch out.
[music]
>> Tim: Is someone else up there
shoveling?
>> Soledad: He sends the,
all the minerals down.
[music]
>> Tim: We've come down
to the third level right now.
And you have two workers who are
basically putting in a lot of
minerals, digging it, throwing
it down from above.
But you can see how it's kinda
just hectic.
People are waiting in the
meantime in order for them to
finish their work, and then
they'll wheelbarrow it out to
here.
And then, from the next one,
they winch it up.
Then those guys wheelbarrow it
out.
Then they winch it up again to
get to the first level.
So, we've come way down into the
depths of the mountain here.
>> Soledad: Before, when
they coming here to the winch,
the miners carried from
here on their back, like this.
One sack is 35-40 kilograms.
Go up, down, up, down.
>> Will: With all that rock and
silver and everything?
>> Soledad: Yes, for 30,
20 times, 30 times, or 40 times.
[music]
>> Will: Careful,
watch your step.
>> Tim: Very bottom,
fourth level, farthest down.
Oh, man, I'm getting winded.
>> Soledad: That's because in
here, there is only one chimney.
>> Tim: One chimney only.
That means there's no air,
and lots of dust.
>> Soledad: Dust?
>> Tim: Yeah,
this is a heavy area here.
>> Tim: What is that,
like a pitfall?
>> Will: Yeah.
>> Soledad: Watch out in there.
>> Will: How many meters down
are we from where we came in?
>> Soledad: We go down 300.
>> Will: Three hundred meters down?
>> Soledad: With the entrance,
not at the entrance, with the
first levels.
>> Will: First level.
>> Soledad: First level, yeah.
>> Will: From there, 300 down?
>> Tim: How much further in
does it go?
>> Soledad: No, until this.
>> Tim: Oh, this is the finish?
>> Soledad: He's working here.
>> Tim: He's working here.
>> Soledad: The other people in
there, digging the holes for
dynamite.
>> Will: We're about to go up this small little tunnel.
>> Tim: You ready, Will?
>> Will: They're gonna be
setting the charges up here.
We're gonna go take a look.
>> Soledad: All right, guys?
>> Will: All right.
>> Will: A little rope here.
>> Soledad: By the rope, okay,
guys?
>> Will: Yeah, yeah.
>> Soledad: You coming with me here.
[music]
>> Soledad: Okay, guys?
>> Will: Yeah, no problem.
We've gone through, like,
three masks.
We came up this little short
rope, and this is about
as far back as you can get.
It's just miserable for your
lungs.
I don't know how these guys can
handle us, but we came up this
rope and, I mean, you're, you
know, struggling to catch your
breath 'cause it's, like, over
14,000, and I mean, you can't
even really breathe because it's
so thick.
So it is really, really nasty,
nasty conditions.
This is, like, the harshest
conditions we've been in.
>> Soledad: You okay?
>> Will: Yeah.
>> Tim: Oh, man, the gases up
here.
>> Will: Careful with that bar.
It's all loose.
>> Tim: Oh, gosh.
>> Will: Any kind of movement's
just totally just fries you.
It's fine once you get up,
but you just run out of breath.
>> Soledad: He's working
in here for digging the holes
for dynamite.
Look at him here on the floor.
>> Tim: Oh, yeah?
How many are they gonna blow at once?
Don't they have to be careful
when they dynamite because it
could--?
>> Soledad: No,
this is 12 explosions.
He's coming down fast like this.
He goes 30 meters.
At 30 meters, he listens,
boom, boom, boom.
But comes back on the next day.
But not in this part because
it's a lot of full the dust.
>> Tim: Yeah, fumes in here,
yeah.
>> Soledad: It's necessary
24 hours to ventilation.
[music]
>> Soledad: Come out here,
explosion, explosion.
[music]
>> Will: Okay, come on.
>> Soledad: Don't moving in there.
Stop in there.
>> Will: They're doing, like,
a series of explosions here.
>> Tim: Scoot back
a little bit more.
Somethin's goin' on.
[music]
[explosion sound]
>> Tim: If you would like to receive a DVD of the episodes
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Our mission at "Travel the Road"
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To find out more about the
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...