The Bolivian government agreed on Tuesday to exempt small-scale miners’ cooperatives from large minerals tax rises planned for this year.
According to an Associated Press report from La Paz more than 20,000 miners demonstrated in the Bolivian capital on Monday against the planned tax increases, with protests continuing on Tuesday morning.
The value of Bolivia’s mineral exports increased to over a billion US dollars last year, with cooperatives accounting for just over a third. But the Bolivian government only collected $ 45.5 million mining taxes in 2006, and aims to dramatically increase its collections this year, perhaps to as much as $ 300 million.
The proposed tax increase is a first step toward President Morales’ announced goal of "nationalising" Bolivia’s mining sector, though how the process will proceed beyond the tax increase is unclear.
