Six killed in suspected dynamite attack during Bolivia gold-mining clash.

A violent clash between gold-mining groups in Bolivia led to an explosion that killed six people, authorities reported.

The blast occurred on Thursday at the Yani mining camp, located about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northwest of La Paz, the country’s administrative capital.

“There are six dead, and we have reports of missing persons,” said Jhonny Silva, a representative of the Hijos de Ingenio Mining Cooperative, one of the groups involved in the conflict.

The cooperative reportedly clashed with a rival group, Senor de Mayo, in a violent battle over access to a gold-mining site, with both sides using dynamite. The explosion damaged houses and caused a power outage in the town of Sorata.

“They have blown up machinery with dynamite, even a diesel tank,” Silva said, blaming the rival group for the destruction.

Mining collectives in Bolivia emerged as an alternative to state-run and private enterprises, which critics argue provide unstable employment for low-income miners, leaving their livelihoods at the mercy of market fluctuations.

Mining collectives began emerging in Bolivia following a series of economic crises, particularly in 1985, when a collapse in international mineral prices forced the state-owned mining company, Corporación Minera de Bolivia (COMIBOL), to temporarily shut down.

The closure left tens of thousands of miners unemployed. As Bolivia’s mines were privatized, collectives provided a way for miners to self-organize. Many eventually began extracting tin, silver, gold, and zinc to sell to private businesses.

Today, collectives make up the majority of Bolivia’s mining workforce, surpassing both COMIBOL employees and private-sector miners. Despite their smaller-scale operations compared to large corporations, they wield significant political influence.