MAJOR TIN CENTERS PARALYSED BOLIVIA UNION SAYS

  A strike by 9,000 miners employed by the
  state corporation Comibol has paralysed tin production in the
  major centers of Huanuni, Corocoro, Siglo, Catavi and Colquiri,
  the Conflicts Secretary of the Bolivian Miners Federation,
  Cristobal Aranibar, told Reuters.
       The strike began at midnight to press demands for higher
  wages and more funds for the nationalised mining industry.
       The miners federation left the door open to negotiations
  with the government but "only if the authorities show their
  intention to find solution to our demands", Aranibar said.
      The government of president Victor Paz Estenssoro, faced
  with mounting social unrest against its economic policies, has
  said the miners strike was part of a campaign to discredit it
  during the visit of West German president, Richard von
  Weizsaecker, who arrives today for a four-day official visit.
      The government froze salaries as part of its efforts to
  pull Bolivia out of a deep economic crisis. According to
  central bank forecasts inflation will reach an annual 10 pct
  rate versus up to 20,000 pct in 1985.
       In addition to the miners' strike, about 1,000 railway
  factory workers of the bolivian labour organization (COB) began
  a second day of a hunger strike in the country's main cities to
  press for substantial wage increases, a union leader said.
  

